The Development of Episodic Memory: Lifespan Lessons

Abstract

This article looks at the development of episodic memory (EM) in children from a lifespan perspective, focusing on studies that directly compare children’s patterns of memory performance to those of older adults. With training, children show greater improvements and higher levels of asymptotic performance than older adults even when they initially perform at the same or lower levels. Thus, the plasticity of EM appears to be greater in children than in older adults. Next, the article describes the two-component model of EM development, which delineates sets of mechanisms that may underlie EM differences between children and older adults. According to this model, EM requires the interaction between associative and strategic components. It posits that the associative component of EM is relatively mature by middle childhood and declines in old age. The strategic component of EM matures later than the associative component and also declines in old age. Empirical evidence supports the model, and the article discusses its relation to recent findings in developmental psychology and neuroscience. The article concludes that a lifespan perspective on EM helps to delineate the differences, commonalities, and dependencies among mechanisms that regulate its function and development.