Can’t get it out of my head

Proactive interference in the visual working memory of 3- to 8-year-old children

Bibliographic Data

ID9795808
AuthorsMollie Hamilton (University of Massachusetts Boston, corresponding author), Tessyia Roper (University of Massachusetts Boston), Erik Blaser (0000-0002-9968-8946, University of Massachusetts Boston), Zsuzsa Kaldy (0000-0002-0679-4505, University of Massachusetts Boston)
Year2024
Volume60
Issue3
Pages582-594
Publication date2024-03-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueDevelopmental Psychology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0012-1649 • E-ISSN: 1939-0599
PublisherAmerican Psychological Association (APA) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1037/dev0001686
PMID38421800
OpenAlexW4392298104
LanguageEN
Citations received2

Proactive interference (PI) occurs when previously learned memories compete with currently relevant information. Despite extensive literature investigating the effect in adults, little work has been done in young children. In three preregistered studies (N = 38, 35, 172; convenience samples from the Northeastern United States), first, we showed that 3-year-old toddlers are highly sensitive to the effect of PI in visual working memory and second, that these effects can originate from the reactivation of previously encoded information. Third, we tested how the ability to cope with PI changes between 2.5 and 7.5 years of age. Besides providing an estimate for the size of the interference effect at the youngest age to date, our findings have an important methodological implication: paradigms that repeat items across trials potentially underestimate young children's working memory abilities. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved)

Cognition · Cognitive psychology · Developmental psychology · Interference theory · MEDLINE · PsycINFO · Short-term memory · Working memory · Child and Animal Learning Development · Cognitive Abilities and Testing · Cognitive Functions and Memory · Psychology

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