Memory development: Difference between revisions

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A surprising finding was that within the same age group of 2 to 3 months, infants could also remember an event or memory that was forgotten over the years.<ref name="Learning & memory"/> The infant experienced this recollection by a certain factor that might have sparked that forgotten memory.<ref name="Learning & memory"/> These impressive findings were found by testing the kicking of infants. Researchers placed a mobile over the infant's crib and a ribbon that connects the infant's leg to the mobile.<ref name="Learning & memory"/> The infants demonstrated to the researchers that they were learning the connection between their kicking and the mobile's movement.<ref name="Learning & memory"/> Once the allotted time passed, the infant's leg was attached once more to the mobile.<ref name="Learning & memory"/> Two types of ideas were formed; supposing that the child could energetically start kicking, would lead to the assumption that the infant remembered the connection between the mobile's movement and the childs kicking. Now, if the infant's kicking gingerly become more energetic, that would presume that the infant is relearning the connection, which would suggest that the infant has forgotten the connection made.<ref name="Learning & memory"/>

The study also indicated that the infant could remember the connection for up to 14 days.<ref name="Learning & memory"/> However, once certain time has passed the infant's leg is once again connected to the mobile's movement with a ribbon to test of the infant recalled what to do.<ref name="Learning & memory"/> The infant did not remember what to do, and they were introduced to a certain factor that would aid the infant to remember.<ref name="Learning & memory"/> According to Professor Robert &V. Kail and Professor Meghan Saweikis (2004), Ifif the experimenter moves the mobile showing the infant the movements, as soon as the infant is reconnected to the mobile with a ribbon, the infant will start kicking energetically.<ref name="Learning & memory"/> The conclusion was that the infant could indeed remember a memory, although time has passed.<ref name="Learning & memory"/>

Infants who are 5 months or older are able to use emotions to influence their memories. However, at this age, infants will be more likely to remember things that were characterized by positive emotions. Numerous mechanisms that are used to study and infer memory in children cannot be used on infants, due to the process the study is retrieved, which include writing or speaking.<ref name="Learning & memory"/> The way that researchers study the memory capabilities of infants in this age range is through measuring eye movements between test images presented. After doing this initial round of testing, the researchers would conduct follow-up tests both 5 minutes later and one day later. The follow-up tests shown to the infants included two geometric shapes: one from the original test, and a new shape. The researchers were able to record how long the infants looked at the images in the follow-up tests and measured how long the infants stared at each shape. The infants were more likely to gaze at the geometric shapes from the original tests if they had been paired with positive voices than if they had been paired with neutral or negative voices. This study indicated that infants at this age would be able to better remember shapes and patterns of things if they were associated with positive emotions because positivity would increase the infants' interest and attention.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Flom |first1=Ross |last2=Janis |first2=Rebecca B. |last3=Garcia |first3=Darren J. |last4=Kirwan |first4=C. Brock |title=The effects of exposure to dynamic expressions of affect on 5-month-olds' memory |journal=Infant Behavior and Development |volume=37 |issue=4 |pages=752–9 |year=2014 |pmid=25459793 |doi=10.1016/j.infbeh.2014.09.006 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Sullivan|first1=Margaret Wolan|last2=Lewis|first2=Michael|date=April 2003|title=Emotional Expressions of Young Infants and Children: A Practitionerʼs Primer|journal=Infants & Young Children|language=en|volume=16|issue=2|pages=120–142|doi=10.1097/00001163-200304000-00005|s2cid=17383258|issn=0896-3746|doi-access=free}}</ref>