Document Type

Book Chapter

Publication Date

4-25-2025

Keywords

adulthood, age of onset, change patterns, chunking, early years, improvement rate, inverted U pattern (lifespan trajectory), lifespan, lifespan development, memory, memory development, memory performance, memory systems, middle age, old age, performance levels, specific function, types of memory, working memory, young adulthood

Disciplines

Developmental Psychology

Abstract

Human memory shows amazing changes across infancy, childhood, and even through adulthood. But there are many different kinds of memory—each performing a specific function—and these different types show different patterns of change across the lifespan. Both age of onset and improvement rate can differ across memory systems. However, most types of memory show an “inverted U” pattern of development, with individuals showing low performance levels in the early years, increasing levels through young adulthood, and then lower levels again in middle age and old age.

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