DEVELOPMENTAL-CHANGES IN THE SPECIFICITY OF MEMORY OVER THE FIRST-YEAR OF LIFE

In two experiments with 260 infants between 2 and 12 months of age, we examined how differences between the conditions of encoding and retri eval affect retention. Initially, 9- and 12-month-olds were tested wit h a different cue (Experiment 1) or in a different contest (Experiment 2) after delays spanning their respective for getting functions. Thes e data were then combined with corresponding data previously collected front 2- to 6-month-olds trained and tested in an equivalent task. Th e resulting analyses revealed that the specificity constraints on memo ry retrieval become progressively looser at the extremes of the forget ting function with age. With increasing age, retention was less affect ed by cue changes after shorter absolute delays and, except at 6 month s, by context changes after longer absolute delays. This pattern dovet ails with evidence of decreasing specificity in the retrieval cues req uired for deferred imitation during infants' 2nd year and reveals that the memory abilities of older children evolve gradually from early in infancy. (C) 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.