i
The Journalof GeneticPsychology, 2005, 166(3), 313-327
Feature Binding in Children
and Young Adults
THOMAS C. LORSBACH
Department of Special Education and CommunicationDisorders
University of Nebraska at Omaha
JASON F. REIMER
Department of Psychology
CaliforniaState University, San Bernardino
ABSTRACT. The authors measured memory for individual features (objects only or locations only) and the combination of those features (objects and locations) in 9-, 12-, and
21-year-old students with a yes or no recognition task. Analysis of recognition memory
performance (d' scores) revealed that although age differences existed in memory for individual features, age differences were greater in the tasks that required memory for combined features (objects and locations). Hierarchical multiple regression analyses indicated that age remained a significant predictor of memory performance in the combination condition even after the authors statistically removed memory performance in object
and location conditions and the interaction effects of object and location. These results
provide evidence for developmental differences in the binding of features in memory.
Key words: binding, children, feature memory
THEORISTS HAVE CONCEIVED OF MEMORY REPRESENTATIONS'as
collections of features or attributes (Bower, 1967; McClelland & Rumelhart,
1985; Underwood, 1969). Depending on the nature of the episodic event and
which stimulus features are encoded, a given memory representation may consist of a variety of features, which range from surface elements to deeper, semantic features. Consistent with the position that memory representations are composed of a collection of attributes, researchers have observed that memory
retrieval is often fragmentary, with certain features being remembered and others unavailable or inaccessible. For example, a person may be able to remember
certain elements of the representation, such as the location in which information
was displayed on a page, but be unable to retrieve the information itself (ZechAddress correspondence to Thomas C. Lorsbach, Department of Special Education and
Communication Disorders, University of Nebraska at Omaha, 6001 Dodge Street, KH
421C, Omaha, NE 68182-0054; tlorsbach@maiLunomaha.edu(e-mail).
313
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The Journal of Genetic Psychology
meister & McKillip, 1972). Conversely, a person may be able to remember the
information but be unable to remember when or where the information was
acquired. Retrieval of the information without memory for supporting details is
typical of failures in source memory (Johnson, Hashtroudi, & Lindsay, 1996).
The features that comprise a given memory episode aie not stored in a random manner, rather they must be bound together so that they form a unique representation of the event. Researchers refer to the process by which features of an
episode are associated or connected as binding or cohesion. Chalfonte, Verfaellie, Johnson, and Reiss (1996, p. 610) observed that binding "provides the memorial experience that features belong together,"Kroll, Knight, Metcalfe, Wolf, and
Tulving (1996, p. 178) considered that cohesion occurred early during consolidation, a process "whose function is to bind or glue aspects of incoming information into separately retrievable engrams." Metcalfe, Mencl, and Cottrell (1994)
observed that connecting features of a memory episode into a bound representation would distinguish explicit from implicit memory. Metcalfe et al. considered
memory-binding processes to be a "crucial characteristic" of the explicit memory system because they "coalesce the separate parts of an event into a cohesive
and memorable whole" (p. 392). Without adequate feature binding, explicit memory may be compromised and may ultimately lead to source memory failures in
which fragmentary information of an episode is remembered without a cohesive
memory of where and when the information was acquired (Schacter, Norman, &
Koustaal, 1998).
Researchers have not yet addressed whether feature binding shows developmental improvement. Therefore, in this study, our purpose was to 'examine
whether developmental differences exist in the ability to bind features together in
a working memory task. For the present study, we adapted the K. J. Mitchell,
Johnson, Raye, Mather, and D'Esposito (2000) procedure to examine feature
memory and binding processes in children. -We presented participants with alternating blocks of trials that included study and test items for each of three memory conditions: (a) item only, (b) location only, or (c) item and location. We began
each trial with a series of three 3x 3 study arrays in which each array contained
a different line drawing in a different random location. Before receiving each
block, we instructed each participant to remember only the items, to remember
only the locations of items, or to remember both the items and their locations.
Following a brief unfilled retention interval, we gave participants a yes or no
recognition test to assess their memory for individual features (item-only information or location-only information) or memory for combined features (item and
location information).
In at least two studies, researchers used a small-scale grid or matrix to compare the development of item and location memor6 in children (Kail & .Siegel,
1977; Siemens, Guttentag, & McIntyre, 1989). In each case, investigators were
interested in memory for occupied locations (i.e., memory for those occupied
locations on the matrix, regardless of the items that had occupied those locations).
Lorsbach & Reimer
315
Kail and Siegel presented letters in a 4 x 4 matrix to third-grade students, sixthgrade students, and college students with instructions to remember only the letters, only the occupied locations, or the letters and their locations in the matrix.
Although they found memory performance on both the letter- and the locationmemory tasks to increase with age, the scoring method did not reveal anything
about binding processes because memory for letters and their locations were
scored independently (i.e., memory for letters was scored without regard to the
original location in the matrix and vice versa). Siemens et al. used a modified version of the Kail and Siegel task to compare memory for items with memory for
occupied locations in children (4-year-olds, 8-year-olds) and adults. Age differences in memory performance were significantly greater on the location-only
memory task than on the item-only memory task.
Unfortunately, Kail and Siegel (1977) and Siemens et al. (1989) did not provide information about age differences in memory for combined features (objects
and their locations). However, because the combination task required participants
to bind objects with their locations, developmental differences in the combination condition should have been significantly greater than those that may have
been observed in the feature conditions (i.e., object and location). We based such
an expectation on what we knew about the nature of feature binding as well as
our knowledge of memory development in children. For example, researchers
have found that limitations on attentional resources adversely affect the efficiency of binding processes (e.g., Kroll et al., 1996; Reinitz, Morrissey, & Demb,
1994). Although developmental models do not typically portray children as possessing fewer resources than adults, children have been considered to be slower
and less efficient than young adults in the execution of mental processes (Case,
1985; Case, Kurland, & Goldberg, 1982). Because of general processing inefficiency, children may be able to process individual features (objects or their locations) but may have fewer resources left to bind these features together during the
combination task.
A second reason to anticipate developmental differences in binding processes comes from research in developmental neuropsychology. The hippocampus and the prefrontal cortex seem to be the neurological locus of binding
processes (e.g., Cohen & Eichenbaum, 1993; Eichenbaum & Bunsey, 1995) and
the frontal lobes show neurological development until the adolescent years (Huttenlocher, 1990; Johnson, 1999; Yakovlev & LeCours, 1967). One might expect
to find developmental improvements in a working memory task that requires
binding processes.
A final reason to expect developmental differences in the combination condition is in relation to the research on adult aging in which investigators have
found binding processes to be impaired in older adults (Chalfonte & Johnson,
1996; K. J. Mitchell, Johnson, Raye, & D'Esposito, 2000; K. J. Mitchell, Johnson, Raye, Mather, & D'Esposito, 2000). The results of adult aging studies often
are useful in generating hypotheses about cognitive development because a num-
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The Journalof Genetic Psychology
ber of cognitive processes that decline with adult. aging have been found to
improve as children develop. These processes include cognitive inhibition (e.g.,
Dempster,'1992; Hasher & Zacks, 1988), speed of processing (e.g., Kail, 1991;
Cerella, 1985), and implicit versus explicit memory (e.g., D. B. Mitchell, 1991;
Parkin, 1991). Therefore, because binding processes-seem to decline as the result
of adult aging, these same processes may improve throughout the course of child
development.
Method
Participantsand Design
The participants included 26 third-grade students (M age = 9.24 years, SD =
0.35), 27 sixth-grade students (M age- 12.07 years, SD = 0.46), and 27 college
undergraduate students (M age = 21.11 years, SD 3.4). We used a 3 x 3 (Grade
[3rd x 6th x college] x Memory Condition [object x location x combination])
mixed design, in which grade represented the between-subjects variable and the
memory condition represented the within-subjects variable We recruited college
students from undergraduate psychology classes at the University of Nebraska at
Omaha through the use of sign-up sheets. We recruited children from two public
elementary schools in the Omaha, NE, metropolitan area by sending a letter of
invitation and a parent consent form to all parents of children in the third and
sixth grades. We excluded from participation children who did not speak English
as their native language or who were currently receiving special education services. Participation in the experiment was contingent on the'completion of signed
consent forms and child assent forms, which had been approved by the Institutional Review Board for the Protection of Human Subjects at the University of
Nebraska Medical Center.
Apparatus and Procedure
We presented stimuli and collected the responses'by using a Power Macintosh 6100/60 AV microcomputer that was controlled by SuperLab Pro 1.75 software (Cedrus Corporation, 1989-1999). We interfaced an RB410/RB 610
response box (Cedrus Corp.) with the microcomputer to record both the accuracy and latency of each response. We presented stimuli on a 14-in color monitor.
The critical stimuli consisted of a set of eight black-and-white line drawings
of common objects (pumpkin, fish, balloon, kite, snowman, lion, frog, heart) and
a black 3 x 3 grid that was approximately 15.5 cm x 15.5 cm. We used only eight
pictures to equate the number of objects tested with the number of locations tested (i.e., we used only 8 locations because we never used the center cell of the
3 x.3 grid as a study or a test location). The pictured objects did not possess any
obvious categorical relationships. In addition, children's ratings (Cycowicz,
Lorsbach & Reimer
317
Friedman, & Rothstein, 1997) of the pictured objects in terms of their familiarity (M = 2.84, SD = 0.43), visual complexity (M = 2.78, SD = 0.94), and percentage of name agreement (M = 98%, SD = 3.51%) were similar to those of
young adults (M = 2.85, SD = 0.55; M = 2.75, SD = 1.1; and M = 98.9%, SD =
2.47%, respectively) in the norms of Snodgrass and Vanderwart (1980).
We initially constructed three 32-trial test lists for each of the three memory conditions: (a) memory for objects, (b) memory for locations of objects, and
(c) memory for objects and their respective locations (combination) on the grid.
We selected the eight pictures as study objects through repeated and random
selection without replacement, in which we used the eight pictures as study items
on each test list. Each picture was used the same number of times. The test probes
in each list consisted of 16 targets and 16 lures. We presented the targets and lures
randomly with the restriction that no more than three targets and three lures were
tested consecutively. We tested the eight study locations of targets twice, and we
tested the three study positions (1st, 2nd, 3rd) equally often with each test list.
We varied the order of testing of the three memory conditions systematically across participants so that the three conditions were tested in each third of
the experimental session equally as often with each age group. In addition, across
the three test lists used within a given experimental session, we tested each of the
eight item locations twice at each of the three study positions.
Figure 1 graphically depicts the sequence and timing of stimulus events used
in each trial. With the exception of the study and test cues, we presented all stimuli as black objects on a white background. We signaled the beginning of each
trial by displaying the word study, which we presented in green letters in the center of the screen for 500 ms. A blank screen then was displayed for I s and was
followed by the 3 x 3 grid that remained visible for 3 s. During this 3-s interval,
we showed three different pictures successively for 1 s each in three different
locations in the grid. An unfilled 8-s retention interval followed the presentation
of the third object on the grid, during which time we showed a question mark (?)
in the middle of the screen. At the end of the 8-s retention interval, we displayed
the word test in red letters for 500 ms, which signaled that a test item was about
to be shown. A blank screen then was displayed for 1 s and was followed by the
test item for that trial. The test item remained visible until the participant responded by pressing one of two buttons that were labeled either yes or no. The
participant's response was followed by a 2-s intertrial interval.
Depending on the condition being tested, the recognition probe consisted of
a single item that tested memory for objects, locations of objects, or objects and
their respective locations (combination). For object memory trials, the test item
consisted of a single object that was presented in the center of the screen. We
instructed participants to press the yes button if they thought the object was one
of the three studied items that had been displayed on that trial and to press the no
button if otherwise. On location memory trials, the test item consisted of the grid
containing a single darkened cell (excluding the center cell). We instructed the
318
The Journalof Genetic Psychology
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Lorsbach & Reimer
319
participants to press the yes button if they thought the darkened cell was in a location in which one of the three studied items had been displayed on that trial and
to press the no button if otherwise. For combination trials, the target item consisted of an object in its studied location on the grid for that trial. The lures for
this condition involved the re-pairing of objects and their respective locations. We
instructed participants to press the press the yes button if the test item displayed
an object in its studied location on the grid and to press the no button if otherwise. In all test conditions, participants were instructed to make their decision as
quickly as possible without sacrificing accuracy.
We used an 8.5 x 11 in (21.5 x 28 cm) sheet of paper, which contained an
example of the 3 x 3 grid and the eight pictures as a visual aid during the presentation of oral instructions. We told participants that on each trial, three different pictures would be displayed in a random manner, one at a time, in three different squares within the grid. In addition, just prior to each memory test, we
presented test-specific instructions through the use of another visual aid. We
showed participants a 6-page, 8.5 x 11 in (21.5 x 28 cm) booklet that provided
an example of a stimulus sequence that might occur during the trials of a given
memory test. Following the specific instructions for a given memory task, the participants completed two practice trials to familiarize them with the task and its
requirements. We presented participants with the test trials only after they demonstrated their understanding of the procedure as assessed during practice trials.
Results
We initially computed hit rates and false-alarm rates for all participants in
each of the three memory conditions. We determined hit rates by calculating the
proportion of times the participant responded by pressing the yes button when the
probe item was displayed in the preceding study grid (i.e., a correct response).
We determined false-alarm rates by calculating the proportion of times the participant pressed the yes button when the probe item was not displayed on the previous study grid (i.e., an incorrect response). We subsequently used the hit and
false-alarm rates to compute d', a measure of memory discriminability, and C, a
measure of response bias (see Stanislaw & Todorov, 1999, for an overview of signal detection theory and methods for calculating d' and C). The measure of d'
assesses the ability to discriminate between old and new items, with larger d' values reflecting better memory discrimination. Values of C that are below 0.0 are
indicative of a liberal bias (i.e., greater willingness to guess yes), whereas values
above 0.0 suggest a more conservative bias (i.e., less willing to guess yes).
Before calculating d' scores, we transformed the hit and false-alarm rates for
each participant using a log-linear rule (Hautus, 1995). Such a correction of hit
and false-alarm rates made extreme proportions impossible to obtain and has been
found to produce less biased estimates of d' (Hautus). Likewise, we corrected hit
and false-alarm rates by adding .5 to each frequency and dividing by N + 1, where
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The Journalof GeneticPsychology
N equals the number of old or new trials (Snodgrass & Corwin, 1988, p. 35).
Thus, we calculated corrected hit rates and false-alarm rates using the following
formulas: (a) hits = (number of hits + ;5) (number of old items + 1)and (b) false
alarms = (number of false alarms + :5)
(number of new items + 1). Snodgrass
+
and Corwin recommended that this correction procedure be used routinely, even
in the absence of extreme scores and even when signal detection measures are not
calculated. Table 1 shows the mean proportions of corrected hits and false-alarms
for each grade level and memory condition. Using corrected hit and false-alarm
.rates, we calculated the d' scores for each participant and submitted to a 3 x 3
(Grade [3rd x 6th x college] xMemory Condition [object x location × combination]) mixed-design analysis of variance.
The analysis of d' scores revealed that the effects of grade, F(2, 77) = 32.740,
MSE= .822, p <.0001, and memory condition, F(2, 154) = 14.965, MSE= .236,
p < .0001, were each significant, as was their interaction, F(4, 154) = 3.264,
MSE = .236, p = .0133. Figure 2 shows the Grade x Memory Condition interaction. Simple effects analyses of the Grade x Memory Condition interaction indicated there Was an effect of grade in the object memory condition, F(2, 77) =
13.096, MSE = .349, p < .0001. Post hoc tests (Newman-Keuls) indicated that
third-grade students (M = 2.49) remembered fewer objects than did either sixthgrade students (M = 3.03) or college students (M = 3.31), but the latter two groups
did not differ from each other. Analysis of the grade effect in the location memory condition was also significant, F(2, 77) = 24.442, MSE = .4 19 , p < .0001.
TABLE 1. Mean Proportions and Standard Deviations of Corrected Hits
and False Alarms by Grade 'and Condition
Condition
Object
memory
Response
Location
memory
Combination
M
SD
M
SD,
-M
SD
Corrected hits
False alarms
6th grade
Corrected hits
False alarms
College
.84
.10
.13
.06
.82
.13
.11
.07
.82
.26
.14
.18
.91
.07
.07
.07
.89
..10
'.09
.07
.88'
.12
.07
.12
Corrected hits
.92
.05
.94
.05
.93
.05
False alarms
.04
.04
.04
.02
.07
.06
3rd grade
Note. The mean scores reflect scores that have been adjusted according to a log-linear rule
(Hautus, 1995).
Lorsbach & Reimer
3rd
321
Q6th OCollege
4-
3.57
3
2.5S 2-
1.5-
0.5-
,I
0-
Object
Conditon
Location
Condition
Combination
FIGURE 2. Mean d' scores (and standard errors) for each grade level in each
of the three memory conditions.
Third-grade students (M = 2.20) remembered fewer locations than did sixth-grade
students (M = 2.76), who in turn remembered fewer locations than did college
students (M = 3.44). Finally, we also found a significant grade effect in the combination memory condition, F(2, 77) = 25.920, MSE = .527, p < .0001. Thirdgrade students (M = 1.77) recognized fewer items in the combination condition
than did sixth-grade students (M = 2.62), who, in turn, recognized fewer items
than did college students (M = 3.20).
Using simple effects tests, we examined the Grade x Memory Condition
interaction alternatively by analyzing the effects of memory condition at each
grade. The effect of memory condition was significant with third-grade students,
F(2, 50) = 13.668, MSE = .249, p < .0001. Post hoc tests indicated that object
memory (M = 2.49) was significantly better than was location memory (M =
2.20), which was, in turn, significantly better than memory in the combination
condition (M = 1.77). The effect of memory condition was also significant with
sixth-grade students, F(2, 52) = 4.573, MSE = .270, p = .0148. In that situation,
I
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The Journal of Genetic Psychology
object memory (M = 3.03) was comparable with location memory (M = 2.76),
which, in turn, did not differ from combination memory (M= 2.62). Object memory, however, was significantly better than was combination memory. Finally,
there was no effect of memory condition with college students (p > .14).
We performed an analysis of response bias on C values. Values of C that were
less than 0.0 reflected a liberal response bias (i.e., greater willingness to respond
yes), whereas C values greater than 0.0 indicated a more conservative bias (less
willing to respond yes). Only the effect of memory condition was significant, F(2,
154) = 5.970, MSE = .075, p = .0032. The C values in the combination memory
condition (M = -. 04) differed from both the object memory (M = .10) and the
location memory condition (M = .07), but the latter two did not differ from each
other. Thus, all participants were relatively more conservative when making
recognition decisions with both the object and the location memory conditions
and were somewhat more liberal in the combination memory condition.
In the present investigation, our purpose was to determine whether developmental differences exist in memory for bound featural information. Although we
found developmental differences in the combination condition, interpretation of
these differences is difficult because we also found age differences in feature
memory. In the future, researchers need to examine whether developmental differences can be found in the combination condition independent of memory performance in the featural conditions (i.e., object and location). To be specific, we
were interested in determining whether developmental differences in the combination condition remained after variance associated with featural memory had
been removed. To address this issue, we conducted a hierarchical multiple regression analysis. In the first step of the regression analysis, we entered memory performance in both the object and location conditions. In the second step, we
entered an interaction term representing the product of memory performance in
the object and location conditions. In the third step, we entered the main effect
of age in the form of two contrast coded variables, one examined differences in
combination memory performance between third- and sixth-grade students, and
the other focused on differences in combination memory performance between
both third- and sixth-grade students and college students. On the first step, combination memory performance could be significantly predicted from object and
location memory performance, R = .765, R2 = .585, F(2, 77) = 54.26, p < .01.
Object memory, unstandardized B = .615, [3 = .448, t(79) = 5.10, p < .01, and
location memory, unstandardized B = .477, f = .421, t(79) = 4.79, p < .01, were
each positively associated with performance on the combination condition. We
entered the interaction of objects and location memory performance on the second step but did not improve the prediction of combination memory performance
R2 change = .00 (F< 1). However, on the third step, the main effect of age was added
and significantly improved the prediction of combination memory performance,
R =.790, R2change = .039, F(2, 74) = 3.85, p < .05. We found significant beta coefficients for the comparison of combination memory performance between third-
Lorsbach & Reimer
323
grade students (M = 1.77) and sixth-grade students (M = 2.62), unstandardized
B =.132, 03= .203, t(79) = 2.28, p < .05, and for comparison of combination memory performance of third- and sixth-grade students (M = 2.20) versus college students (M = 3.20), unstandardized B = .182, 3= .161, t(79) = 2.04, p < .05. Therefore, the results of this regression analysis indicated that age was a significant
predictor of combination memory performance, even after we accounted for the
effects of object and location memory performance and their interaction. These
results suggest that the age-related changes found in memory performance for
feature conjunctions are not solely the function of memory for the component
features.
In addition to measures of recognition accuracy, the time required to make a
decision provided a useful index of the relative difficulty of feature memory and
feature binding. Because younger children perform various cognitive processes
more slowly than do older children and adults (e.g., Kail, 1991), we wondered
whether the difficulties of children in the feature-only condition and the combination condition would be reflected in their response latencies. To examine this
question, we analyzed response latencies and followed the procedure used by K.
J. Mitchell, Johnson, Raye, Mather, and D'Esposito (2000). We calculated a difference score for each participant in each memory condition: median reaction
time on lures minus median reaction time on targets. We designed these scores to
control for differences in base line reaction times by "anchoring participants' lure
performance to their own target performance" (K. J. Mitchell, Johnson, Raye,
Mather, & D'Esposito, p. 532). The analysis of the lure-target difference scores
revealed that only the effect of memory condition was significant, F(2, 154) =
20.108, MSE = 40048.102, p < .0001. Participants were slower on lures on targets in the combination memory condition (M = 183 ms) than on either the object
(M = - 6 ms) or the location memory (M = 32 ms) condition, whereas the latter
two memory conditions did not differ from one another. These results are not consistent with the position that children experience greater difficulty than do young
adults when they try to remember associations between features compared with
single features. That all participants were slower to respond in the combination
condition than in the feature-only condition provides support for the observation
that feature binding is more effortful than feature memory (Reinitz et al., 1994;
K. J. Mitchell, Johnson, Raye, Mather, & D'Esposito).
Discussion'
In the present study, we sought to determine whether developmental differences existed in the ability to bind features together in a working memory task.
Analysis of recognition memory performance indicated that, although sixth-grade
students were comparable to college students in memory for objects, the sixthgrade students experienced greater difficulty when attempting to remember locations and even greater difficulty when attempting to remember objects and their
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The Journal of Genetic Psychology
locations, in the combination condition. Third-grade students performed worse
than did sixth-grade students in their memory for individual features (objects or
their locations), as well as in their memory for the combination of those features.
Most important, although memory in the combination condition is correlated with
feature memory, developmental differences in the combination condition remain
after variance associated with feature memory is removed statistically. Taken
together, these results suggest that developmental differences exist in the binding
of featural information.
One may question whether we obtained the results of the present study
because of the failure of children, particularly third-grade students, to understand
the procedures associated with each memory task.-Aside from the fact that the tasks
were simple and uncomplicated, two major factors would seem to rule out this possibility. First, we did not present test trials until participants demonstrated their
understanding of a given memory task on the practice trials. Second, performance
on the tasks themselves further indicated that children understood the tasks. If
children failed to understand the tasks and to follow instructions, their performance
would have been at chance levels. An examination of the results indicates that both
groups of children performed at levels that were well above chance.
Researchers have focused theoretical accounts of binding on those processes that occur during initial encoding and consolidation. For example, Reinitz
and colleagues (e.g., Hannigan & Reinitz, 2000; Reinitz et al., 1994) proposed
that individual stimulus features and relational information (global stimulus features) are each encoded separately. The processing of relational information
places greater demhnds on processing resources and, consequently, such information is more apt to be forgotten than individual features. Retrieval is presumed
to involve a conjunction process whereby stored relational information is used to
recombine stored features. In the absence of relational information, conjunction
errors occur at the time of retrieval. Thus, one might argue that the binding difficulties of children, who were observed in the combination condition, were the
result of a failure to encode relational information. If this interpretation is accurate, the age differences that we observed iný the Combination condition would
suggest that there are age-related improvements in the ability to process relational
information during a working memory task.
Johnson and colleagues (e.g., Johnson, 1992, 1997; Johnson & Chalfonte,
1994; Chalfonte et al., 1996) similarly emphasized the role of encoding processes by proposing that featural binding involves the use of reflective processes.
As depicted in the Multiple-Entry, Modular Memory System framework (MEM;
Johnson, 1983), reflective processes essentially enable one to "sustain, organize,
and revive information" (Johnson & Hirst, 1993, p. 245). The reflective system
within MEM includes a number of component processes, including, "noting relations, shifting attention to something potentially more useful, refreshing information so that it remains active and one can easily shift back to it, and reactivating
information that has dropped out of consciousness" (Johnson & Hirst, p. 245).
Lorsbach &Reimer
325
Each of these component processes is considered to affect binding. For example,
binding is presumably more apt to occur if one notes relations between features
(e.g., objects and locations) or refreshes and reactivates two features that cooccurred in a recent event (e.g., object and its location). One might argue that the
developmental differences in the combination condition of the present study were
caused, in part, by the inefficient use of one or more of these reflective processes.
The binding deficits in children might be interpreted in terms of an underlying
deficit in reflective processes (Johnson, 1992), particularly those that are involved
in the reactivation of information that has left consciousness (Johnson & Hirst).
Reactivation is presumed to be critical for memorial binding. By bringing inactive
information back to mind, "reactivation acts as an internally generated repetition
of the information" and serves "to promote opportunities for binding and to
strengthen existing relations" (Chalfonte & Johnson, 1996, p. 214).
In the present study, we provided evidence for developmental differences in
feature binding. Although there were developmental differences in featural binding, the design of the present study does not allow one to identify the locus of
these binding problems. Any observed difficulties with binding in the present paradigm may have been the result of processing differences during (a) the acquisition phase, (b) the retention interval, (c) the test, or (d) some combination of these
(K. J. Mitchell, Johnson, Raye, Mather, & D'Esposito, 2000). In the future,
researchers will need to examine why there are developmental differences in
remembering combinations of stimulus features.
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Received May 5, 2005
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