The Emergence of Abstract Representations in Learning and Development (ARENA)
This project is part of the Research Unit ARENA https://neuroai-arena.github.io that is funded by the German Research Foundation.
Abstract knowledge, such as categories, enables the human brain to process the overwhelming amount of incoming information from the environment in an efficient way, namely by reducing the complexity and dimension of information. One aspect of human cognition unmatched by artificial intelligence (AI) is the capacity to generalize after experiencing few samples. For example, a concept for “bird” as a category may emerge in a child after experiencing just several instances of birds. Acquisition of abstract knowledge is assumed to entail the extraction and consolidation of regularities across event memories (i.e. episodic memory). On the other hand, episodic memory preserves the specificity of individual events by binding together unique combinations of features from an episode. Thus far, it is not well understood how the brain learns to capture regularities across experiences for the acquisition of categorical knowledge, and how these dynamic processes differ between children and adults. Therefore, in this project we examine the emergence and deploy of abstract representation for categories and how it interacts with episodic memory of specific experiences. We develop age-appropriate experimental paradigms for children and adults that allows tracking the representations of both abstract knowledge and episodic memory in the human brain. These representations are indexed not just by behavioral measures, but also measures with high temporal and spatial resolution, i.e. eye-tracking and functional magnetic resonance imaging data, to characterize the dynamic processes across time.
In the first study (called MoMoView), we investigate individual differences in visual perception and memory for scenes. The focus is on how people of different ages remember previously viewed scenes and how gaze patterns differ between viewing and recalling scenes. More details see here: https://idea-frankfurt.eu/en/projects/momoview/
In the second study (called CatMo), we investigate the emergence of category learning in children and adults. In the task, participants are presented with a series of artificial creatures that vary along several features. Each of the creatures belongs to a category, but the rules or boundaries defining these categories are not made explicit. Instead, participants learn to classify stimuli through feedback-based training (being told whether their response is correct) or by generalizing from previously encountered exemplars. Performance on category learning tasks provides insights into the processes of generalization, abstraction, and memory.
Related Publications
Brod, G. & Shing, Y. L. (2022). Are there age-related differences in the effects of prior knowledge on learning? Insights gained from the memory congruency effect. Mind, Brain, and Education. https://doi.org/10.1111/mbe.12320
Schommartz, I., Kaindl, A. M., Buss, C. & Shing, Y.L. (2024). Short- and long-delay consolidation of memory accessibility and precision across childhood and young adulthood. Developmental Psychology, 60(5):891-903. https://doi.org/10.1037/dev0001691
Schommartz, I., Lembcke, P. F., Ortiz-Tudela, J., Bauer, M., Kaindl, A. M., Buss, C., & Shing, L. (2023). Neural correlates and reinstatement of recent and remote memory: A comparison between children and young adults. eLife 12: RP89908. https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.89908.1
