Measuring declarative memory from infancy to childhood: The Frankfurt imitation tests for infants and children aged 12–36 months

Abstract

The present paper reports on a new objective, standardized, age-adapted and reliable assessment method for measuring declarative memory (assessed via the deferred imitation [DI] task) from infancy to childhood. Test statistics (item difficulty, item-total correlations) show that the Frankfurt Imitation Tests, developed in a four-wave-longitudinal study, are sound declarative memory measurements. High Cohen's κ values indicate high inter-rater reliability. Testing and retesting DI performance with additional samples after short intervals demonstrated moderate test–retest reliability. External validity calculations indicate that DI performance is related to language development, cognitive development as well as social development. In the future, this new standardized declarative memory assessment instrument will facilitate longitudinal growth modelling as it provides measurement equivalence across age. From a clinical perspective, the FIT tests will allow to diagnose neuropsychological samples more thoroughly as declarative memory is an important prerequisite for a variety of developmental abilities (e.g., cognitive and language abilities).

Keywords::

• Imitation
• Declarative memory
• Assessment

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

This work was supported by the German Research Foundation [KN 275/3-1].

Notes

¹ For a detailed description of the test–retest procedure, see Goertz, Kolling, Frahsek, Stanisch, and Knopf (2008).