Generic information supports the long-term retention of novel labels

Multiple studies have shown that children are capable of learning words and facts about objects from a single exposure. In three experiments, we assessed how labels and (generic or specific) facts presented together or separately influence their short- and long-term retention. During an object-matching game, 4-year-old children were incidentally presented with novel labels and facts about novel objects. We tested the memory for these items immediately, and after a 1-week delay. The labels and facts were presented separately for different objects (Experiment 1), together for the same object at the same time (Experiment 2), and together for the same object but with a time interval in between (Experiment 3). The results revealed that one week after presentation, only generic facts were remembered if labels and facts had been presented separately or with a gap in between (Experiment 1 and 3). When labels and generic facts were presented together (Experiment 2), 4-year-olds displayed better long-term retention of both novel names and generic facts. Taken together, these studies show that kind-generic facts support labels in children's long-term memory.