Constrained Retrieval in Children and Young Adults”

The ability to control one’s thoughts and actions (i.e., cognitive control) is important in both educational and social settings. As with many cognitive-related processes, cognitive control has been found to change throughout development (e.g., Jacoby, Shimizu, Velanova, & Rhodes, 2005). Memory retrieval processes have also been found to be influenced by cognitive control (Jacoby et al., 2005). Recent research by Jacoby and colleagues suggests that during retrieval processes, specific cognitive control mechanisms (i.e., source constrained retrieval) are used to constrain retrieval, such that only information from a wanted source to comes to mind (Halamish, Goldsmith, & Jacoby, 2012; Jacoby et al., 2005; Jacoby, Shimizu, Daniels, & Rhodes, 2005; Shimizu & Jacoby, 2005). The purpose of the current study was to investigate any developmental differences in the use of source constrained retrieval between children and adults. A memory-for-foils paradigm was used to examine any differences in the use of source constrained retrieval by third-grade-children (36) and adults (36). Results indicated a significant difference in the use of source constrained retrieval by third-grade-children and adults. That is, adults remembered significantly more deep foils than shallow foils (i.e., a significant source constrained retrieval effect), whereas third-grade-children remembered deep and shallow foils equally (i.e., no significant source constrained retrieval effect). These results suggested that cognitive control deficits in third-grade-children (as a result of ongoing maturation) do not allow them to rely on source constrained retrieval mechanisms during memory retrieval, but rather may rely on the use of other less constrained retrieval processe