Self-derivation of new knowledge through memory integration

Emory University, Atlanta GA

Investigators

Abstract

The project addresses the fundamental question of how children build up factual knowledge about the world over time and experiences. People do not acquire all knowledge about a topic in a single experience. Instead, it is built up over experiences or lessons that are separated in time. The lessons also may come from different sources, such as books, lectures, videos, museum exhibits. A major challenge is to explain how individual, separate episodes of learning are integrated with one another, such that the knowledge base accumulates over time. This knowledge base extends beyond what we have learned explicitly, to include self-derived information, through logical processes such as induction and deduction. Prior research has found age-related increases in the ability to extend beyond explicit information to self-derive new knowledge through integration of separate episodes of learning. It also has found individual variability in the process, that relates to academic achievement. This new research will highlight the sources of these differences. These discoveries will inform interventions to promote these processes, thereby improving the depth and breadth of learning. In addition to its translational potential, the project also will benefit society by increasing the scientific literacy of undergraduate and graduate students, and by engaging children from diverse backgrounds. This project concerns the specific productive process of self-derivation of new factual knowledge through integration of separate yet related episodes of new learning. This occurs when learners integrate information newly acquired in one lesson (e.g., liquids expand with heat) with information newly acquired in another (thermometers contain liquid), and productively derive new factual knowledge (thermometers work because liquid expands as heat increases). There are age-related increases in self-derivation through integration across the school years. The major objective of the project is to test the source of the improvements. The research is situated in a broader literature on memory integration. It is distinguished by its focus on development, on process, and on producing factual knowledge. The guiding hypothesis is that age-related improvements are explained by developmental variability in the efficiency and efficacy of five component processes: encoding, reactivation, integration, selection, and self-derivation. The behavior of preschool to elementary-age children is consistent with a developmental progression in successful engagement of these processes. The project will directly test the suggested progression in 4- to 9-year-olds. Behavioral measures will be complemented by eye tracking. Tracking visual attention provides a window on cognitive effort, indicating engagement of component processes, and their relation to self-derivation of new knowledge. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.