Fig. 3. Schematic depiction of the distribution of memories across the first decade of life from a traditional perspective, suggesting a gradually increasing number of memories with age (Panel a); and from the complementary processes perspective, suggesting a residual number of early memories remaining after forgetting (Panel b).
of normal forgetting. That is, between 7 and 11 years of age, the rate of forgetting, represented by the b parameter of the power function (e.g., Wixted & Ebbesen, 1997), decreased from 2.21 to 1.62; there was a further decrease to 1.01 by the college years. Though direct evidence of structure–process– function relations is not yet available, it is reasonable to attribute the change in the rate of loss of information from memory to development of the neural substrate responsible for encoding, consolidation, and retrieval of memories (see above). Neural developments would herald increases in the efficiency and thus the efficacy of mnemonic processes. That is, with more efficient processes, fewer elements of experience would be lost, both early in the transformation of experience into a memory trace, and as the trace is being incorporated into long-term storage. Stronger, better integrated traces are more readily retrieved. The consequence of improvements in memory processes would be improved function, in this case, a reduction in the rate of forgetting. Over the course of development, the rate of forgetting gradually approximates that seen in adults.