Children's Paired-associate Learning Research Articles

Effects of Sleep on Word Pair Memory in Children - Separating Item and Source Memory Aspects.

Word paired-associate learning is a well-established task to demonstrate sleep-dependent memory consolidation in adults as well as children. Sleep has also been proposed to benefit episodic features of memory, i.e., a memory for an event (item) bound into the spatiotemporal context it has been experienced in (source). We aimed to explore if sleep enhances word pair memory in children by strengthening the episodic features of the memory, in particular. Sixty-one children (8–12 years) studied two lists of word pairs with 1 h in between. Retrieval testing comprised cued recall of the target word of each word pair (item memory) and recalling in which list the word pair had appeared in (source memory). Retrieval was tested either after 1 h (short retention interval) or after 11 h, with this long retention interval covering either nocturnal sleep or daytime wakefulness. Compared with the wake interval, sleep enhanced separate recall of both word pairs and the lists per se, while recall of the combination of the word pair and the list it had appeared in remained unaffected by sleep. An additional comparison with adult controls (n = 37) suggested that item-source bound memory (combined recall of word pair and list) is generally diminished in children. Our results argue against the view that the sleep-induced enhancement in paired-associate learning in children is a consequence of sleep specifically enhancing the episodic features of the memory representation. On the contrary, sleep in children might strengthen item and source representations in isolation, while leaving the episodic memory representations (item-source binding) unaffected.

Paired associate learning in children with neurofibromatosis type 1: implications for clinical trials

Studies investigating behavior in mice with a heterozygous null mutation of the NF1 gene (Nf1 (+/-)) have provided critical insights into the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying cognitive impairments associated with neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1). Hyperactivation of the Ras-MAPK signaling cascade, which results in increased GABA-mediated inhibition and significantly reduced long-term potentiation, has been proposed as a core mechanism underlying Nf1 (+/-) mice deficits in visuospatial learning and attention. This assertion has been reinforced by preclinical trials that reveal that these impairments can be rescued both at a cognitive and cellular level. We attempted to demonstrate a phenotypic parallel between Nf1 (+/-) mice and children with NF1 using a well-validated measure of visuospatial learning. Children with NF1 (n = 71) and healthy controls (n = 29) were assessed on a computerized paired associate learning task. Interrelationships between visuospatial learning and other cognitive abilities that may influence performance, such as intelligence, attention and visuospatial function, were explored. Children with NF1 displayed significant impairments in visuospatial learning, with reduced initial retention and poorer learning across repeated trials. Importantly, we demonstrated that visuospatial learning was inferior in NF1 even after accounting for group differences in intelligence, sustained attention and visuospatial abilities. We have thus identified impaired visuospatial learning as a core phenotypic feature in children with NF1. These findings imply that hippocampal-based learning networks are dysfunctional in children with NF1 and provide validation for a primary outcome measure for clinical trials aiming to correct aberrant Ras signaling.

Relations between serial and paired-associate learning in children

Fourth grade subjects learned a serial list of six words, then a paired-associate list of six word pairs. The first three words of the serial task became correct responses for three PA pairs, while other PA words were new. Significant negative transfer was obtained for those PA pairs containing responses from the serial list. While serial and PA learning were not correlated, both serial and PA learning were significantly correlated with IQ.

Cohort, Age, and Imagery in Children's Paired-Associate Learning

REESE, HAYNE W. Cohort, Age, and Imagery in Children's Paired-Associate Learning. CHILD DEVELOPMENT, 1974, 45, 1176-1178. There appears to have been a cohort change around November 1969 in the ability of preschoolers to learn paired associates and in the ability of younger preschoolers to utilize imposed pictorial elaborations. The utilization of imposed elaborations presumably reflects the operation of cognitive skills; therefore, the cohort change is interpreted to reflect acceleration of cognitive development. The cause of this acceleration may have been the nationwide broadcasting of Sesame Street, which began in November 1969.

Cohort, Age, and Imagery in Children's Paired-Associate Learning

Cohort, Age, and Imagery in Children's Paired-Associate Learning

Modality and the transformation problem in paired-associate learning of children.

Modality and the transformation problem in paired-associate learning of children.

Unfamiliar stimulus terms in children's paired-associate learning.

Unfamiliar stimulus terms in children's paired-associate learning.

Extended mediation in children's paired-associate learning.

Extended mediation in children's paired-associate learning.

Elaborative prompt effects in children's paired-associate learning: Design and population comparisons.

Elaborative prompt effects in children's paired-associate learning: Design and population comparisons.

Relative Effectiveness of Imagery Instructions and Pictorial Interactions on Children's Paired-Associate Learning

Relative Effectiveness of Imagery Instructions and Pictorial Interactions on Children's Paired-Associate Learning

Relative Effectiveness of Imagery Instructions and Pictorial Interactions on Children's Paired-Associate Learning

Relative Effectiveness of Imagery Instructions and Pictorial Interactions on Children's Paired-Associate Learning

A comparison of experimenter-provided and subject-generated strategies in children's paired-associate learning.

A comparison of experimenter-provided and subject-generated strategies in children's paired-associate learning.

A comparison of induced imagery and sentence strategies in children's paired-associate learning.

A comparison of induced imagery and sentence strategies in children's paired-associate learning.

Motoric mediation in children's paired-associate learning: Effects of visual and tactual contact

The manipulation of unseen object pairs has been shown to facilitate the paired-associate learning of 5-year-olds, and has been interpreted as supporting Piaget's contention that mental imagery is based in the overt activity of the child. In the present study, we examined the child's ability to generate memory-enhancing interactions between object pairs when either visual contact with the objects, tactual contact, or both were absent. The paired-associate performance of each of these activity groups (Visual-Tactual, Visual-No Tactual, No Visual-Tactual, and No Visual-No Tactual) was compared with corresponding control groups which received imagery instructions, but had no opportunity to manipulate the object pairs. Rated quality of overt manipulation was lowered by the absence of tactual contact with the objects, but not by the absence of visual contact. Quality of manipulation was positively related to amount of facilitation of paired-associate performance. These results demonstrate the kindergarten child's relative inability to produce ongoing thematic activity when this activity is physically separated from the objects involved.

Paired-associate learning of children with mixed list designs.

Paired-associate learning of children with mixed list designs.

Verbal paired-associate learning in children and adults with anticipation, recognition, and recall methods.

Verbal paired-associate learning in children and adults with anticipation, recognition, and recall methods.

Verbal and imagery processes in children's paired-associate learning

Experimental operations that typify studies in syntactic mediation were used in a study of 64 second-grade children split into four independent groups. Syntactic and imagery mediators were imposed on the learners. Both kinds of mediators were shown to facilitate the learning of noun pairs, but a minimal language cue (prepositional connective) was more effective than imagery. The results offer support for the hypothesis that verbalization is the preferred symbolic process in young children. In particular a recognition procedure ruled out a response availability hypothesis which has been held to account for the superiority of syntactic mediators.

Imagery in children's paired-associate learning

An earlier study of verbal context and imagery (verbal and pictorial representation of interactions between stimulus and response items) was replicated with a more adequate control condition, and with a 2-week retention test requiring relearning. The verbal-context and imagery effects were again reliable, but an expected age difference was not obtained in that the imagery condition was equally effective in younger and older preschoolers. The treatment differences in retention and relearning were the same as in original learning (although not significant in retention).

Noun concreteness and verbal facilitation as factors in imaginal mediation and PA learning in children

An experiment was conducted to study the effects of noun concreteness and type of verbal connective on speed of discovery of imaginal mediators for Grade-2 and Grade-6 children. A second experiment examined the effects of the same variables on paired-associate (PA) learning. In both experiments concreteness had a facilitatory effect, while the type of connective had no apparent effect. A significant negative correlation was found between mediation latencies and PA learning. These findings were interpreted as evidence for mediating imagery being effective in PA learning, particularly with the older group of children.

Size-discrimination difficulty and verbal paired-associate learning in children.

Size-discrimination difficulty and verbal paired-associate learning in children.