Retroactive interference in 3-month-old infants

Three experiments assessed the effect of the similarity and timing of interpolated information on retroactive interference in human infants. After 3-month-olds learned to move a mobile (the cue) in a distinctive context by kicking, they were exposed to novel stimuli and were tested 24 hr later for recognition of their training stimuli. In Experiment 1, the interpolated cue, context, or both were novel. Retroactive interference occurred unless the interpolated and training stimuli shared no components. In Experiments 2 and 3, the timing of exposure to the interpolated context or cue, respectively, varied. A novel context impaired recognition after exposure delays up to 2 hr, whereas a novel cue impaired recognition after exposure delays up to 40 min. The finding that the cue is less vulnerable to retroactive interference than the context suggests that it is processed more rapidly. These experiments reveal that retroactive interference in infants depends on both the similarity and timing of the interpolated information.