Memory load affects object individuation in 18-month-old infants. 2012

Jennifer M Zosh, and Lisa Feigenson
Human Development and Family Studies, The Pennsylvania State University, Brandywine Campus, Media, PA 19063, USA. jzosh@psu.edu

Accurate representation of a changing environment requires individuation-the ability to determine how many numerically distinct objects are present in a scene. Much research has characterized early individuation abilities by identifying which object features infants can use to individuate throughout development. However, despite the fact that without memory featural individuation would be impossible, little is known about how memory constrains object individuation. Here, we investigated infants' ability to individuate multiple objects at once and asked whether individuation performance changes as a function of memory load. In three experiments, 18-month-old infants saw one, two, or three objects hidden and always saw the correct number of objects retrieved. On some trials, one or more of these objects surreptitiously switched identity prior to retrieval. We asked whether infants would use this identity mismatch to individuate and, hence, continue searching for the missing object(s). We found that infants were less likely to individuate objects as memory load grew, but that infants individuated more successfully when the featural contrast between the hidden and retrieved objects increased. These results suggest that remembering more objects may result in a loss of representational precision, thereby decreasing the likelihood of successful individuation. We close by discussing possible links between our results and findings from adult working memory.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D007207 Individuation A process of differentiation having for its goal the development of the individual personality. Individuations
D007223 Infant A child between 1 and 23 months of age. Infants
D008297 Male Males
D008570 Memory, Short-Term Remembrance of information for a few seconds to hours. Immediate Recall,Memory, Immediate,Working Memory,Memory, Shortterm,Immediate Memories,Immediate Memory,Immediate Recalls,Memories, Immediate,Memories, Short-Term,Memories, Shortterm,Memory, Short Term,Recall, Immediate,Recalls, Immediate,Short-Term Memories,Short-Term Memory,Shortterm Memories,Shortterm Memory,Working Memories
D010364 Pattern Recognition, Visual Mental process to visually perceive a critical number of facts (the pattern), such as characters, shapes, displays, or designs. Recognition, Visual Pattern,Visual Pattern Recognition
D011930 Reaction Time The time from the onset of a stimulus until a response is observed. Response Latency,Response Speed,Response Time,Latency, Response,Reaction Times,Response Latencies,Response Times,Speed, Response,Speeds, Response
D002657 Child Development The continuous sequential physiological and psychological maturing of an individual from birth up to but not including ADOLESCENCE. Infant Development,Development, Child,Development, Infant
D005260 Female Females
D006801 Humans Members of the species Homo sapiens. Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man

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