How to learn places without spatial concepts: does the what-and-where reaction time system in children regulate learning during stimulus repetition?

Lange-Kuettner, Christiane and Küttner, Enno (2015) How to learn places without spatial concepts: does the what-and-where reaction time system in children regulate learning during stimulus repetition? Brain and Cognition, 97. pp. 59-73. ISSN 0278-2626

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Abstract / Description

We investigated the role of repetition for place learning in children although the acquisition of organizing spatial concepts is often seen as more essential. In a reaction-time accuracy task, 7- and 9-year-old children were presented with a randomized sequence of objects-in-places. In a novelty condition (NC), memory sets in different colours were presented, while in a repetition condition (RC), the identical memory set was tested several times. Shape memory deteriorated more than place memory in the NC, but also stayed superior to place memory when both improved in the RC. False alarms occurred for objects and places in the same way in 7-year-olds in the NC, but were negligible for 9-year-olds. In contrast, false alarms in the RC occurred in both age groups mainly for place memory. The Common Region Test (CRT) predicted reaction times only in the novelty condition, indicating use of spatial concepts. Importantly, reaction times for shapes were faster than for places at the beginning of the experiment but slowed down thereafter, while reaction times for places were slow at the beginning of the experiment but accelerated considerably thereafter. False alarms and regulation of reaction times indicated that repetition facilitated true abstraction of information leading to place learning without spatial concepts.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	visual memory; what-and-where system; shape and place memory; repetition effects; reaction time regulation
Subjects:	100 Philosophy & psychology > 150 Psychology 300 Social sciences > 370 Education 500 Natural Sciences and Mathematics > 570 Life sciences; biology
Department:	School of Social Sciences (to June 2021) School of Social Sciences and Professions
Depositing User:	Chris Lange-Kuettner
Date Deposited:	14 Oct 2015 17:53
Last Modified:	09 Sep 2019 09:35
URI:	https://repository.londonmet.ac.uk/id/eprint/774

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