AUTHOR=Nordqvist Emelie , Rudner Mary , Johansson Mikael , Lindgren Magnus , Heimann Mikael TITLE=The relationship between deferred imitation, associative memory, and communication in 14-months-old children. Behavioral and electrophysiological indices JOURNAL=Frontiers in Psychology VOLUME=6 YEAR=2015 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00260 DOI=10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00260 ISSN=1664-1078 ABSTRACT=

The present study combines behavioral observations of memory (deferred imitation, DI, after a brief delay of 30 min and after a long delay of 2–3 weeks) and electrophysiological (event-related potentials, ERPs) measures of associative memory, as well as parental reports of non-verbal and verbal communication in sixteen 14-months-old children. Results show that for DI, the children remembered the stimulus after the brief but not after the long delay. There was a clear electrophysiological response indicating associative memory. Furthermore, a correlation between DI and ERP suggests that both measures of memory (DI and associative memory) tap into similar mechanisms in 14-months-old children. There was also a statistically significant relation between parental report of receptive (verbal) language and the ERP, showing an association between receptive language skills and associative memory.