Implicit long-term memory for duration in young children

Abstract

The aim of the present study was to investigate young children's ability to maintain in long-term memory a duration of an action they have previously experienced (i.e., implicit long-term memory for duration). Children aged 3 and 5 years were trained to produce an action for 5 s by simultaneous imitation of the experimenter's action. Then, they were tested after a retention interval lasting for 1, 24, or 48 hours (Experiment 1), or 6 days, 6 weeks, or 6 months (Experiment 2). The results showed that the young children remembered the learned duration after 48 hours and 6 months at the age of 3 and 5 years, respectively, although the temporal performance decreased at the 1 hour and the 6 weeks retention intervals for the first and the second age group. These findings are discussed in the framework of a discrepancy in the memory retention of duration as a function of the nature of the memory system, i.e., implicit or explicit.

We would like to express our thanks to the staff and children of the following nursery schools: “Maurice Grangier” in Blanzat, “Paul Lapie” in Chamalières, and “Jules Ferry” in Clermont-Ferrand (France), and to the inspectors of the state education system, without whom this study could not have been conducted.

Notes

¹Previous analyses revealed neither a significant main effect nor any interaction involving the number of learning session factors. Thus, this factor was not included in the statistical analyses.

²Previous analyses revealed neither a significant main effect nor any interaction involving the number of learning session factors. Thus, this factor was not included in the statistical analyses.