Long-term forgetting is independent of age in healthy children and adolescents

In clinical neuropsychology, the phenomenon of accelerated long-term forgetting (ALF) has advanced to be a marker for subtle but clinically relevant memory problems associated with a range of neurological conditions. The normal developmental trajectory of long-term memory, in this case, memory recall after 1 week, and the influence of cognitive variables such as intelligence have not extensively been described, which is a drawback for the use of accelerated long-term forgetting measures in pediatric neuropsychology.

In this clinical observation study, we analyzed the normal developmental trajectory of verbal memory recall after 1 week in healthy children and adolescents. We hypothesized that 1-week recall and 1-week forgetting would be age-dependent and correlate with other cognitive functions such as intelligence and working memory. Sixty-three healthy participants between the ages of 8 and 16 years completed a newly developed auditory verbal learning test (WoMBAT) and the WISC-V intelligence test (General Ability Index, GAI). Using these tests, 1 week recall and 1 week forgetting have been studied in relation to GAI, verbal learning performance, and verbal working memory.

Neither 1-week recall nor 1-week forgetting seems to be age-dependent. They are also not significantly predicted by other cognitive functions such as GAI or working memory. Instead, the ability to recall a previously memorized word list after 7 days seems to depend solely on the initial learning capacity.

In the clinical setting, this finding can help interpret difficulties in free recall after 7 days or more since they can probably not be attributed to young age or low intelligence.