The dependence of children’s generalization on episodic memory varies with age and level of abstraction

Abstract

Abstract Generalization extends learning from specific to new examples, whereas episodic memory preserves specific instances. Some models suggest generalization occurs by retrieving individual but related episodes, a pattern found in young adults. Children’s generalization of characteristics of individual people may rely instead on semantics. Here, we study generalizations across multiple levels of abstraction and characterize their contingency on episodic memory. Children (3-8 years, N = 121) watch animals find homes in different places. These events contain patterns of regularities linking different hierarchical levels of places and animal species. We assess children’s inferences about unstudied animal-place associations at various abstraction levels and memory precision for individual episodes. We find that lower-level generalization depends on memory of specific episodes, and the degree of dependence increases with age. In contrast, higher-level generalization is not statistically associated with episodic memory. This work shows that the contingency of generalization on memory specificity depends on age and level of abstraction.