Ontogenesis of learning and memory: Biopsychosocial and dynamical systems perspectives

Abstract

In this article, we review recent empirical and theoretical work on infant memory development, highlighting future directions for the field. We consider the state of the field since Carolyn Rovee‐Collier's call for developmental scientists to “shift the focus from what to why,” emphasizing the function of infant behavior and the value of integrating fractionized, highly specialized subfields. We discuss functional approaches of early learning and memory, including ecological models of memory development and relevant empirical work in human and non‐human organisms. Ontogenetic changes in learning and memory occur in developing biological systems, which are embedded in broader socio‐cultural contexts with shifting ecological demands that are in part determined by the infants themselves. We incorporate biopsychosocial and dynamical systems perspectives as we analyze the state of the field's integration of multiple areas of specialization to provide more holistic understanding of the contributing factors and underlying mechanisms of the development of memory.

The Ontogeny of Hippocampus-Dependent Memories

“…The first would largely depend on cortical structures of the medial temporal lobe, while the second would critically rely on an intact hippocampus (Vargha-Khadem et al, 1997). While there is evidence of both implicit memory and long-term retention of learned contextual information in human infants (Rovee-Collier and Cuevas, 2009;Cuevas and Sheya, 2019), what constitutes an episode that can be consciously recollected in a nonverbal infant is unclear. Some have argued that human infants can form episodic memories by the end of the first postnatal year, while others argue that relational memories built during infancy are not episodic, but semantic in nature, and are likely cortically mediated (Olson and Newcombe, 2014;Gomez and Edgin, 2016).…”

A Dynamic Systems Framework for Gender/Sex Development: From Sensory Input in Infancy to Subjective Certainty in Toddlerhood

“…The authors of a recent overview of infant memory note the following: during infancy encoding speed increases and memory duration lengthens, memory retrieval becomes more flexible, and reminders allow the infant to retrieve forgotten memories (Cuevas and Sheya, 2019). These changes "are embedded in broader socio-cultural contexts with shifting ecological demands that are in part determined by the infants themselves" (abstract) (Cuevas and Sheya, 2019). This is the same claim about infant memory that I am making about gender/sex development.…”

“…Furthermore, their object memory and ability to associate categories depend on regular exposure Rovee-Collier, 1999, 2005;Mareschal and Quinn, 2001;Bhatt et al, 2004). The authors of a recent overview of infant memory note the following: during infancy encoding speed increases and memory duration lengthens, memory retrieval becomes more flexible, and reminders allow the infant to retrieve forgotten memories (Cuevas and Sheya, 2019). These changes "are embedded in broader socio-cultural contexts with shifting ecological demands that are in part determined by the infants themselves" (abstract) (Cuevas and Sheya, 2019).…”

Neuroimaging the sleeping brain: Insight on memory functioning in infants and toddlers

“…In addition to improvements in the ability to track contextual relations such as space and time, there is clear evidence across paradigms of improvements in the length of retention over the course of infancy and the toddler years (e.g. Cuevas & Sheya, 2018). Various conjugate reinforcement studies demonstrate that the kicking association is retained longer in older infants (e.g., Hartshorn et al, 1998;Hill, Borovsky, & Rovee-Collier, 1988).…”