The Cost of Learning: Interference Effects on Early Learning and Memory

Kevin Darby	The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA
Vladimir Sloutsky	The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA

Abstract

A great deal of work in cognitive science has focused on how learning and memory can interact through proactive and retroactive interference effects. However, the mechanisms underlying these effects are still debated, and little is known regarding how interference affects learning in human development. This work addresses these questions by comparing children’s and adults’ performance on a new associative learning task in which information was either unique or overlapping across three phases. Robust interference effects were found for overlapping, but not unique information. Additionally, proactive interference was comparable between age groups, while retroactive interference was more robust in child participants. Results of two experiments suggest that interference is likely not driven primarily by differences in consolidation or active inhibitory processes, but may be influenced by configural encoding processes.

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The Cost of Learning: Interference Effects on Early Learning and Memory (200 KB)