"Memory independence and memory interference in cognitive development": Correction.

Reports an error in the original article by C. J. Brainerd and V. F. Reyna (Psychological Review, 1993[Jan], Vol 100[1], 42–67). On page 56, there were some incorrect data values in the 3rd and 4th columns of Table 4. The amended table is presented. (The following abstract of this article originally appeared in record 1993-17013-001.) Recent experiments have established the surprising fact that age improvements in reasoning are often dissociated from improvements in memory for determinative informational inputs. Fuzzy-trace theory explains this memory-independence effect on the grounds that reasoning operations do not directly access verbatim traces of critical background information but, rather, process gist that was retrieved and edited in parallel with the encoding of such information. This explanation also envisions 2 ways in which children's memory and reasoning might be mutually interfering: (1) memory-to-reasoning interference, a tendency to process verbatim traces of background inputs on both memory probes and reasoning problems that simultaneously improves memory performance and impairs reasoning and (2) reasoning-to-memory interference… (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Fuzzy-trace theory and false memory: new frontiers

We describe the origins of fuzzy-trace theory, including Piagetian, interference, information-processing, and judgment and decision-making influences. The contrasting properties of gist and verbatim memory serve as its foundation and, in recent models of spontaneous and implanted false memories, explain seemingly contradictory developmental trends, such as reverse developmental findings, differential time courses for true and false memories, and conflicting effects of trace strength. However, approaches that integrate fuzzy-trace theory with neurological, social, emotional, and motivational perspectives are needed. A method for accomplishing this integration, using the recent models, is introduced and new research that spans these perspectives is discussed. Relations to other contemporary theories, especially source-monitoring and dual-process theories, are also explained. We conclude by rejecting the notion that spontaneous false memories are actually "true" and distinguish gist and verbatim senses of the term "true" that have different consequences in real life.     

Memory loci of suggestibility development: Comment on Ceci, Ross, and Toglia (1987).

We explore three explanations of the age trends in susceptibility to leading questions that were reported by Ceci, Ross, and Toglia (1987). The first explanation, that proposed by Ceci et al., is that suggestibility effects are memorially real (i.e., leading questions actually distort target memory) and the magnitudes of such effects vary ontogenetically. The second explanation is that suggestibility effects are memorially real, but they are developmentally invariant. Apparent age changes in suggestibility are said to arise from correlated (and uncontrolled) changes in learning or forgetting rates. The third explanation is that suggestibility effects are not memorially real but, rather, are epiphenomena of certain performance advantages that are intrinsic to control conditions, such as the distractor novelty effect and the retention enhancement effect. Here, apparent age changes in suggestibility are viewed as artifacts of chronological shifts in subjects' ability to benefit from these performance advantages. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Memory independence and memory interference in cognitive development.

Recent experiments have established the surprising fact that age improvements in reasoning are often dissociated from improvements in memory for determinative informational inputs. Fuzzy-trace theory explains this memory-independence effect on the grounds that reasoning operations do not directly access verbatim traces of critical background information but, rather, process gist that was retrieved and edited in parallel with the encoding of such information. This explanation also envisions 2 ways in which children's memory and reasoning might be mutually interfering: (1) memory-to-reasoning interference, a tendency to process verbatim traces of background inputs on both memory probes and reasoning problems that simultaneously improves memory performance and impairs reasoning, and (2) reasoning-to-memory interference, a tendency for reasoning activities that produce problem solutions to erase or reduce the distinctiveness of verbatim traces of background inputs. Both forms of interference were detected in studies of children's story inferences. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)