Two-year-olds use past memories to accomplish novel goals
Files
First author draft
Date
2022-02
Authors
Blankenship, Tashauna L.
Kibbe, Melissa M.
Version
Accepted manuscript
OA Version
Citation
T.L. Blankenship, M.M. Kibbe. 2022. "Two-year-olds use past memories to accomplish novel goals." Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, Volume 214, pp.105286-. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jecp.2021.105286
Abstract
Memory-guided planning involves retrieving relevant memories and applying that information in service of a goal. Previous studies have shown substantial development in this ability from 3 to 4 years of age. We investigated the emergence of memory-guided planning by asking whether 2-year-olds could draw on episodic memories of past experiences to generate and execute plans. In Experiments 1 and 2 (N = 32, ds > .7), 2-year-olds successfully did so, and this ability developed significantly across the third year of life. Furthermore, in Experiment 3 (N = 19, d = 0.63), 2-year-olds successfully applied episodic memories to guide plans in a novel problem context, suggesting flexibility in this ability. Together, these results suggest that some form of memory-guided planning emerges during the third year of life and may form the cognitive basis for episodic prospection later in development.