The development of recollection and familiarity processes: Behavioral and electrophysiological data

This article examines studies that have used behavioral and electrophysiological measures to look at the development of recollection and familiarity processes during childhood and adolescence. Behavioral data show different developmental trajectories for these two processes. Indeed, recollection and familiarity both develop during early childhood, but familiarity stabilizes from the age of eight while recollection increases throughout childhood and adolescence. Unexpectedly, event-related potential studies detailed the presence of an old/new parietal effect in children, associated with recollection, while most studies failed to highlight the early frontal old/new effect that is supposed to reflect familiarity in adults. Avenues for reflection are discussed in order to explain the discrepancy between behavioral and electrophysiological data on children’s use of the familiarity process.