Infant visual recognition memory

Visual recognition memory is a robust form of memory that is evident from early infancy, shows pronounced developmental change, and is influenced by many of the same factors that affect adult memory; it is surprisingly resistant to decay and interference. Infant visual recognition memory shows (a) modest reliability, (b) good discriminant validity, with performance depressed by numerous peri-natal risk factors, including teratogens and premature birth, (c) good predictive validity, relating to broad cognitive abilities in later childhood, including IQ and language, and (d) significant cross-age continuity, relating to memory in later childhood (through at least I I years). Infant visual recognition memory is related to, and may be to some extent accounted for by, processing speed, forgetting, and certain aspects of attention (particularly look duration and shift rate). There is growing evidence that infant recognition memory may be an early form of declarative memory that depends on structures in the medial temporal lobe. (C) 2003 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.