EPISODIC MEMORY IN 16-MONTH-OLD AND 20-MONTH-OLD CHILDREN - SPECIFICS ARE GENERALIZED BUT NOT FORGOTTEN

Three experiments tested (a) whether 1- to 2-year-olds generalize their knowledge of events to new instantiations and (b) one possible mechanism by which generalization is accomplished. In Experiment 1, 16- and 20-month-old children enacted 6 event sequences. One week later they were tested for delayed recall. At delayed testing the props used to enact one half of the events were replaced by novel, functionally equivalent props. Children in both age groups used the new props to enact the events, thereby demonstrating spontaneous generalization. Experiments 2 and 3 tested whether generalization is accomplished through forgetting of the specific details of the original event. At Session 1, 16- (Experiments 2 and 3) and 20-month-olds (Experiment 2) enacted 4 events. One week later they selected from an array of props those used to enact the events at Session 1. Among the objects from which they selected were functionally equivalent props of the sort used to assess generalization in Experiment 1. Children in both age groups performed reliably on the recognition-memory task. Results showed that 16- and 20-month-old children have at their disposal the capacity to productively generalize their knowledge of events and to form specific, episodic event memories.