Altercentric Memory Error at 9 Months But Correct Object Memory by 18 Months Revealed in Infants' Pupil.

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Development
• Infant Psychology
• Social Cognition

Background:

• Infants may possess a memory bias for shared experiences to aid learning and prediction.
• This bias could lead to altercentric memory errors, where infants misremember based on others' viewpoints.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate infant memory biases using pupillometry.
• To examine the developmental trajectory of altercentric memory errors in infants.

Main Methods:

• Infants (9 and 18 months) viewed videos of object location changes and an agent's belief.
• Pupillometry measured infants' memory expectations and reactions to object reappearance.
• Tested whether memory errors predicted action anticipation.

Main Results:

• Nine-month-olds showed pupil dilation consistent with expecting the object based on the agent's false belief.
• Eighteen-month-olds' pupil dilation indicated memory of the object's actual location.
• Infants' memory errors did not correlate with accurate action anticipation.

Conclusions:

• Young infants exhibit altercentric memory errors, prioritizing others' perspectives.
• These memory biases decrease in the second year of life.
• This developmental change may reflect increasing self-reliance and independent action.