Abstract
How that which we remember is selectively distorted by new information was studied in 3-monthold infants who learned to move a particular crib mobile by operant foot kicking. Infants who were passively exposed to a novel mobile 1, 2, or 3 days later subsequently treated the novel mobile as if they had actually been trained with it. Also, after the longest exposure delay, they no longer recognized the original mobile. Likewise, when the novel mobile was exposed after the longest delay, it could prime the forgotten training memory in a reactivation paradigm, but the original mobile no longer could. These data reveal that what we remember about an event is selectively distorted by what we encounter later. Moreover, the later in the retention interval we encounter new postevent information, the greater is its impact on retention.
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This research was supported by Grant MH32307 and Research Scientist Award MH00902 from the National Institute of Mental Health to C.R.-C. Earlier portions of these data were presented at the meeting of the Eastern Psychological Association, New York, April 1992.
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Rovee-Collier, C., Adler, S.A. & Borza, M.A. Substituting new details for old? Effects of delaying postevent information on infant memory. Memory & Cognition 22, 644–656 (1994). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03209250
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03209250