ABSTRACT
The simple observation that infants look longer at familiar than novel stimuli has had a major impact on the study of infant memory (Fantz, 1961). Many investigators have exploited this preference using the “visual paired comparison” procedure to investigate at what age and for how long infants can remember what they see (reviewed in de Haan, 2003). Measurement of infant visual recognition memory has thus been closely tied to visual attention, as the contents of infants’ memories are inferred on the basis of their allocation of visual attention (looking time). More recently, event-related potentials (ERPs) have been used to investigate infant recognition memory. ERPs can potentially provide information that behavioural measures cannot, in terms of the precise timing and general spatial pattern of brain activation that occurs when infants see familiar and novel items. The aims of this chapter are to provide an overview of the main ERP components elicited in infant visual recognition memory tasks, a discussion of how these results have influenced theories of infant memory development, and illustrations of the application of ERPs to the study of atypical memory development.
