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posted by mrpg on Monday November 22 2021, @04:16PM   Printer-friendly
from the interesting dept.

As We Develop, the Brain Connects Lessons Learned Differently:

[...] The researchers found that whereas adults build integrated memories with inferences already baked in, children and adolescents create separate memories that they later compare to make inferences on the fly.

“How adults structure knowledge is not necessarily optimal for children, because adult strategies might require brain machinery that is not fully mature in children,” said Alison Preston, professor of neuroscience and psychology and senior author of the study published today in the journal Nature Human Behaviour. She co-led the study with first author Margaret Schlichting, formerly a doctoral student in Preston’s lab and currently assistant professor of psychology at the University of Toronto.

To understand the distinction between how adults and children make inferences, imagine visiting a day care center. In the morning, you see a child arriving with one adult, but in the afternoon that child leaves with a different adult. You might infer that the two grown-ups are the child’s parents and are a couple, and your second memory would include both the second person you saw and information from your earlier experience in order to make an inference about how the two adults — whom you didn’t actually see together — might relate to each other.

This new study finds that a child who has the same experiences isn’t likely to make the same kind of inference that an adult would during the second experience. The two memories are less connected. If you ask your child to infer who that child’s parents are, your child can still do it; he or she just has to retrieve the two distinct memories and then reason about how each adult might be related.

Journal Reference:
Margaret L. Schlichting, Katharine F. Guarino, Hannah E. Roome, et al. Developmental differences in memory reactivation relate to encoding and inference in the human brain, Nature Human Behaviour (DOI: 10.1038/s41562-021-01206-5)


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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 23 2021, @08:56PM (3 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 23 2021, @08:56PM (#1199014)

    If it squeaks like a chipmunk asking for food it must be your garage door after you failed to grease the tracks for too long

  • (Score: 2) by DannyB on Tuesday November 23 2021, @10:23PM (2 children)

    by DannyB (5839) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday November 23 2021, @10:23PM (#1199059) Journal

    Bannon: Your honor! I object! I deny having ever molested any chipmunk, either (1) in the public park, (2) alley ways, (3) under bridges, (4) on balconies, (5) stopped at traffic lights, or (6) in a trailer park. Furthermore I vehemently deny having ever molested any other kind of animal at any other location or at any time. I find the accusation that I have taken indecent liberties with chipmunks to be a defamation of my well known and famous character and is notable enough that I will respond in the strongest way possible by giving you a one star review on Yelp. Finally, I impugn the reliability of the accuser; how can you trust a witness who is unable to distinguish the difference between a chipmunk and a squirrel?

    Judge: what is the difference between a chipmunk and a squirrel?

    Bannon: I'm glad you asked, your honor, as I am an expert on that very subject. While there are various differences, the primary and most important (to me) difference is that a squirrel has a larger, softer tail that feels really good against your skin. I submit these Google Images of chipmunks into evidence. I also submit these photos of squirrels but request that they be filed under seal as I am in the photos with some of these squirrels and the photos are not suitable for publication.

    --
    People today are educated enough to repeat what they are taught but not to question what they are taught.
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 24 2021, @04:09AM (1 child)

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 24 2021, @04:09AM (#1199138)

      I meant to say squirrel and realized my mistake after I submitte

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 24 2021, @04:09AM

        by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 24 2021, @04:09AM (#1199139)

        submitted *