Understanding the Transfer Deficit: Contextual Mismatch, Proactive Interference, and Working Memory Affect Toddlers’ Video‐Based Transfer

Abstract

Researchers tested the impact of contextual mismatch, proactive interference, and working memory (WM) on toddlers' transfer across contexts. Forty-two toddlers (27-34 months) completed four object-retrieval trials, requiring memory updating on Trials 2-4. Participants watched hiding events on a tablet computer. Search performance was tested using another tablet (match) or a felt board (mismatch). WM was assessed. On earlier search trials, WM predicted transfer in both conditions, and toddlers in the match condition outperformed those in the mismatch condition; however, the benefit of contextual match and WM decreased over trials. Contextual match apparently increased proactive interference on later trials. Findings are interpreted within existing accounts of the transfer deficit, and a combined account is proposed.

When and How Do Interactive Digital Media Help Children Connect What They See On and Off the Screen?

“…As a result, children with a relatively poor working memory capacity (e.g., relatively younger children) are more likely to have difficulties in transfer. Indeed, 2-year-olds' performance on a working memory task predicted whether they would transfer information from a video to actual objects, even after controlling for the children's age and receptive vocabulary (28). This finding supports the hypothesis that transfer across contexts (e.g., from screen images to actual objects) is demanding cognitively and requires substantial cognitive resources.…”

“…However, toddlers can also learn from interactive media that do not involve video chats with an actual person. Specifically, toddlers also learned more from interactive screen media (versus noninteractive video) when they played a computer game or used a touchscreen application .…”

Learning From Video: A Meta‐Analysis of the Video Deficit in Children Ages 0 to 6 Years

“…In addition, video memories may mismatch future in vivo situations, making transfer more difficult (Barr, 2010). Overcoming these challenges may be cognitively demanding and require more working memory than using information learned face to face (Barr et al, 2016; Choi, Kirkorian, & Pempek, 2018; Kirkorian, 2018).…”

Applying computational modeling to assess age‐, sex‐, and strategy‐related differences in Spin the Pots, a working memory task for 2‐ to 4‐year‐olds

“…Hughes and Ensor (2007) reported that children were asked to help the experimenter hide the stickers (see also Huber, Yeates, Meyer, Fleckhammer, & Kaufman, 2018). In prior studies, some researchers adopted a self‐ordered protocol (Beck et al., 2011; Müller, Liebermann‐Finestone, Carpendale, Hammond, & Bibok, 2012; Roman, Ensor, & Hughes, 2016), while others adopted an experimenter‐ordered protocol (Blakey & Carroll, 2018; Blakey et al., 2016; Choi, Kirkorian, & Pempek, 2017; Johansson, Marciszko, Brocki, & Bohlin, 2015). In the present study, we opted for a self‐ordered version of the task.…”