Later maturation of the beneficial than the detrimental effect of selective memory retrieval

In adults, selective memory retrieval can both impair and improve recall of other memories (K.-H. T. Bäuml & A. Samenieh, 2010). This study examined whether children also show these two faces of memory retrieval. Employing a variant of the directed-forgetting task, second, fourth, and seventh graders studied a list of target and nontarget items, and, after study, received a cue to either forget or continue remembering the list. Memory for the target items was tested either with or without preceding retrieval of the list’s nontarget items. Preceding nontarget retrieval impaired retrieval of to-be-remembered targets, regardless of children’s age. In contrast, preceding nontarget retrieval improved retrieval of to-be-forgotten target items in seventh graders, but not in fourth and second graders. These results suggest a developmental dissociation between the two faces of memory retrieval, indicating later maturation of the beneficial than the detrimental effect of selective memory retrieval