Electrophysiological indexes of encoding and behavioral indexes of recall: examining relations and developmental change late in the first year of life.

Long-term memory undergoes pronounced development in the latter part of the 1st year. This research combines electrophysiological (event-related potential [ERP]) and behavioral (deferred imitation) measures of encoding and recall, respectively, in an examination of age-related changes in and relations between encoding and recall during this time. In a short-term longitudinal study, infants were exposed to different multistep sequences at 9 and at 10 months. In both phases, they were tested for immediate recognition of the events via ERPs (as an index of encoding), and for recall of them 1 month later. At both ages, infants encoded the events; encoding was more robust at 10 months than at 9 months. After the 1-month delay, infants failed to recall the events experienced at 9 months, but evidenced recall of the events experienced at 10 months. In spite of developmental differences in encoding and recall over this period, indexes of encoding at 9 months were correlated with measures of recall of events experienced at 10 months and tested 1 month later.