Instruction and modality effects on children's television attention and comprehension.

80 5- and 9-yr-olds viewed a TV program containing segments emphasizing visual, auditory, or audiovisual information. Half of the Ss were instructed to remember for later testing, and the other half to watch for entertainment. Results show that instructions increased visual orientation and cued recall in younger Ss, and free and cued recall were enhanced in older Ss. Visual orientation and recall of auditory content were positively correlated at both ages, but the association was significantly stronger in younger Ss. It is concluded that even 5-yr-olds are capable of modifying their TV viewing behavior in response to task demands. (35 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Influence of socioeconomic status on children's classification and free recall.

29 kindergarten and 29 1st-grade children were divided into 3 SES levels based on their parents' education level (college, high school, or less than high school) and given 2 sort/recall tasks on sets of pictures that could be organized on the basis of familiar taxonomic or complementary relations. On 1 task, Ss sorted pictures into identical groupings on 2 consecutive trials prior to recall; on the other task, Ss sorted the pictures only once. It was found that Ss from college-educated families were more apt to sort items on the basis of taxonomic relations than Ss from high-school-educated and less-than-high-school-educated families. However, there were no significant differences in levels of recall or clustering. Results indicate that young children from low-SES homes will demonstrate high levels of memory performance when tasks are constructed so that they are familiar with the relations among the to-be-remembered items. The appropriateness of distinguishing children's cognition in terms of A. R. Jensen's (see record 1969-09740-001) Level I vs Level II dichotomy is discussed in light of recent research examining the role of knowledge base on children's memory functioning. (45 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relation between conceptual development and visual exploration of incongruity.

Investigated the relationship between conceptual development and visual exploratory behavior in 84 3-, 4-, and 8-yr-olds. All Ss were engaged in a picture-sorting task to determine whether they would spontaneously and readily discriminate between animate and inanimate objects. Only the 3-yr-olds failed to use this distinction. Three levels of incongruous stimuli were then constructed by combining elements from (a) 2 conceptually distant objects (Level 3: animate and inanimate), (b) 2 conceptually similar objects (Level 2: 2 animate or 2 inanimate), and by using normal, banal objects (Level 1). Patterns of visual selection were subsequently recorded as the Ss viewed pictures representing the 3 levels of incongruity. Results indicate that 3-yr-olds visually explored all incongruous pictures (Levels 2 and 3) longer than those that were banal, whereas 4-yr-olds viewed pictures of intermediate incongruity (Level 2) the longest. Older Ss displayed greater visual preference for progressively incongruous pictures. Findings are discussed in terms of the development of classificatory behavior and with reference to the schema-discrepancy and the informational-conflict-resolution models of visual selection. (18 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Development of strategies for recall and recognition.

40 kindergartners, 42 3rd graders, and 40 5th graders (CA's 5 yrs, 5 mo; 8 yrs, 3 mo; and 12 yrs, 4 mo, respectively) viewed 30 pictures of familiar objects, and then their free recall of the object names and their recognition of the original pictures were tested. The recognition test included pairing each picture with another similar picture of the same object. Half the Ss in each age group were prepared for recall with a strategy known to improve it in adults, and half were prepared for recognition with a strategy known to improve recognition in adults. Children encoded the stimuli differentially in accordance with the expected memory task and retrieved different stored information for each task. Both free recall and picture recognition memory improved with age. The recall strategy improved free recall performance at all ages, but the recognition strategy improved recognition performance only at the oldest age tested. (16 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Developmental changes in recognition memory for pictures of objects and scenes.

Investigated recognition memory for pictures, using photographs that showed either single objects or multi-object scenes and distractors that differed from targets in that an element had been added, an original element moved, or the vantage point changed. In Exp I, Ss included 24 6-yr-olds, 24 9-yr-olds, and 24 adults from the US; in Exp II Ss included the same age groups but from an Indian village in Guatemala. Results indicate that addition transformations were easier to recognize than rearrangements at all ages in the US but not in Guatemala. Objects were easier to recognize than scenes in both cultures. Contrary to recent claims, the present results show that recognition memory improved with age for both cultures. (27 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Children's encoding of taxonomic classes and subclasses.

Investigated children's spontaneous encoding of words into taxonomic classes differing in degree of specificity. 144 children in grades 2-3 and 96 6th graders were tested on a memory task in which each of 4 trials involved presentation of 2 words to be remembered, a distracting task (naming colors) for 15 sec, and recall of the 2 words for 10 sec. Ss in each grade were tested in 1 of 6 conditions that resulted from combining 2 variables; condition (control and experimental) and categories of words (animal/plant, bird/mammal, and tree/flower). The finding that children encoded words into 2 levels of taxonomic class is consistent with the conclusion that the locus of developmental differences in free recall is in children's inability to retrieve rather than in an inability to store information related to taxonomic classes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Flexibility in children's use of spatial and categorical organizational strategies in recall.

Two studies investigated flexibility in children's use of spatial and categorical clustering strategies in recall. In Study 1, 10-, 12-, 14-, and 16-yr-olds and adults recalled the furniture from their home. 10-yr-olds organized furniture categorically, and 16-yr-olds and adults organized items spatially. 12- and 14-yr-olds exhibited equal levels of spatial and categorical organization. Study 2 investigated how encoding experiences and the recall task influenced the degree of spatial and categorical organization in 10- and 12-yr-olds' recall. When recalling objects, 10- and 12-yr-olds exhibited higher levels of categorical than spatial organization. When recalling objects and their locations, 12-yr-olds exhibited more spatial than categorical organization. Results are discussed in terms of age and task influences on flexibility of strategy use. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Age and schematic differences in the reliability of eyewitness testimony.

Examined the reliability of eyewitness testimony for the crime of shoplifting as a function of age, prior knowledge/expectations, and type of memory test. Study 1, with 100 10-yr-olds, 100 undergraduates, and 65 older adults (mean age 72.3 yrs), was designed to empirically establish Ss' expectations for common and unusual occurrences in shoplifting. Results from a rating task indicate that Ss had expectations for common and unusual occurrences of objects and actions but not person characteristics. In Study 2, 32 10-yr-olds, 32 undergraduates, and 29 older adults (mean age 67.6 yrs) viewed videotapes of staged shopliftings incorporating high and low probability-of-occurrence actions and objects. Incidental memory was tested 1 wk later under recall and recognition test instructions. All Ss' reports were more complete, but less accurate, for high than low probability-of-occurrence information. Children's reports were as complete as but less accurate than younger adults'. Older adults' reports were less complete than but as accurate as college students'. Age differences were greatest for completeness of recall measures. Implications for theories of memory development and for the use of eyewitness testimony in legal situations are discussed. (25 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Developmental changes in predicting recognition memory for semantically related and unrelated sentences.

Examined the development of an awareness (metamemory) of "constructive interference." This is the "fact" that when children and adults are presented a list of semantically related sentences, they later find it more difficult to distinguish old from new instances than when they are presented a list of unrelated sentences. Knowledge of this constructive interference was tested by having 192 11-, 15- and 22-yr-old students first predict recognition and then take an actual recognition test. In independent groups, half of the Ss received lists of semantically related sentences, and half received lists of semantically unrelated sentences. By comparing Ss' predictions with their actual performances across the different groups, it appears that the 11-yr-olds did not comprehend this phenomenon, but the 15- and 22-yr-olds did. That is, older Ss correctly predicted that recognition performance would be poorer for related lists than for unrelated lists. The 11-yr-olds, by contrast, predicted that recognition would be about the same for the 2 kinds of lists. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Environmental differentiation and familiarity as determinants of children's memory for spatial location.

The degree to which 2 environmental variables, familiarity and differentiation, affect the ability of children to recall the spatial location of an event was assessed in 3 experiments with a total of 72 3-5 yr old preschoolers and 16 7-8 yr olds. In each study Ss were taken individually on strolls through a variety of environments, were exposed to an event, and later were asked to recall where that event had occurred. This procedure was followed on 1 occasion without the S's foreknowledge that such a request would be made, and on a 2nd occasion with foreknowledge of the S. Differentiation and foreknowledge both had a significant effect on the ability of preschool Ss to perform in this task, but familiarity did not. 8-yr-olds were significantly more accurate than preschoolers in an undifferentiated environment but not in a differentiated environment. Results support Piaget's theory that the development of spatial representation proceeds from dependence on topological spatial relations to incorporation of projective and Euclidean concepts. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Memory-strategy learning and maintenance in preschool children.

This study examined preschool children's abilities to maintain the use of a newly learned organizational study–recall strategy in tasks administered immediately after training and 3 and 7 days after training. 36 4- and 5-yr-olds were assigned to training and control conditions after performing study–recall tasks in a baseline session. Training included demonstration and practice in using the strategy, encouragement to apply the strategy in new tasks, a rationale for strategy use, feedback about strategy effectiveness, and incentive for effortful performance. Ss in training groups showed marked increases in study-sorting, group-naming, and category self-cuing activities in posttraining tasks. The majority of the training Ss were able to remember and sequentially perform at least 3 of the 4 instructed strategy activities in the immediate and 3-day posttraining sessions. Training also served to improve recall, but recall improvements were modest relative to posttraining gains in study-strategy activities. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Developmental and sociocultural aspects of imagery in the picture-word paired-associate learning of children.

Taught 128 middle-class Anglo-Americans and 128 lower socioeconomic Spanish-American children paired-associate lists in which pictures and orally presented words were learned as combinations of picture-picture, picture-word, word-picture, and word-word. Half of the Ss were placed in a recall test during learning trials and half in a recognition condition. One wk after original learning, the Ss were retested. Pictures in the stimulus position greatly facilitated learning, whereas pictures in the response term produced negative effects, but only in the recall condition. Pictures produced better long-term retention in both stimulus and response positions than did words. No significant differences between sociocultural groups in overall paired-associate performance appeared, but long-term retention was significantly better for Anglo Ss. (31 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Clustering in middle and old age.

Presented 2 different stimulus lists to 16 middle-aged (30-60 yrs old) and elderly (70-90 yrs old) Ss for free recall. One list was composed of word pairs that share complementary relationships (e.g., music and piano), and the other list was composed of pairs that share similarity relationships (e.g., king and ruler). An analysis of variance performed on the clustering scores indicated that age, list, and the Age * List interaction were significant sources of variance. The only condition in which a significant amount of clustering was obtained was that in which the middle-aged Ss were given the similarity list. There were no differences in the amount of clustering exhibited by the middle-aged when given the complementary list or the elderly when given either the complementary or the similarity list. Thus, it appears that there is a decline in the elderly in the organization of incoming information and that this decline in organization may be, at least in part, responsible for the memory decrement observed in the elderly. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Developmental differences in the effects of acoustic similarity on memory span.

Investigated the effects of acoustic similarity on memory span in 112 children ranging in age from 4 to 10 yrs. Ss were asked to recall lists of acoustically similar and dissimilar words. The lists alternated across trials while growing in length. Acoustic similarity had progressively more effect on recall with increasing age. There was a fairly sudden increase in recall of acoustically similar items by the 10-yr-olds, compared to the 9-yr-olds. The implications of this finding for current theories of short-term memory and its development and for the use of acoustic similarity as an indicator of speech coding are discussed. One possible account of the effects of acoustic similarity on recall is that it depends on the occurrence of confusions during rehearsal. The rate of rehearsal in young children may be too slow for significant numbers of confusions to occur and affect recall. (11 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Generalization from categorical memory tasks to prose by learning disabled adolescents.

Investigated how 60 learning disabled ([LD] aged 12 yrs to 14 yrs 5 mo) and 20 age-matched nondisabled (NLD) Ss would transfer the use of 4 study rules from instructed materials (pictures) to a prose recall task. Four phases spread over a 3-wk period were involved: pretest, informational phase (2 lessons), individualized training (3 lessons), and posttest. Results show that LDs performed poorly relative to NLD peers at pretest on categorical picture and prose recall tasks. 20 LD Ss who received rule-only instruction and 20 LD Ss who received rule-plus-prose examples instruction surpassed 20 LD Ss in the control condition at posttest on the picture task in rule use and in recall. On the prose task, a majority of the instructed LD Ss demonstrated transfer of the instructed rules. As a group, the instructed LD Ss no longer differed observably from NLD Ss in recall or in the strategies they employed to study and to retrieve. The clinical view that LD Ss are characterized by a failure to generalize was not supported by these findings. (28 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Memory for pictures and sounds: Independence of auditory and visual codes.

Examined the mnemonic independence of auditory and visual nonverbal stimuli (pictures, corresponding environmental sounds, or picture-sound pairs) in free recall. In Exp 1 with 169 undergraduates, free recall was tested under 3 learning conditions (standard intentional, intentional with a rehearsal-inhibiting distracter task, or incidental with the distracter task). In all groups, recall was best for the picture-sound items, and appeared to be additive relative to pictures or sounds alone when the distracter task was used. Exp 2 with 76 undergraduates included a group that saw 2 copies of the same picture simultaneously, and a group that saw 2 different pictures of the same concept. Recall in the picture-sound condition was greater than in either single-modality condition. Exp 3 with 24 undergraduates doubled exposure time, resulting in additively higher recall for repeated pictures with different exemplars. (French abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of cuing on recall from categorized word lists.

Explored the retrieval-deficit hypothesis by comparing free-recall under cued and noncued conditions in 2 groups of 36 5- and 8-yr-olds. On a 16-word list containing either 2, 4, or 8 categories, Ss received 2 trials of noncued recall. The 2nd trial was immediately followed by a test for cued recall. A comparison between cued recall performance and noncued recall performance on Trial 2 indicates that the younger children benefited more than the older children from the cuing procedure. For both age groups, there were effects of cuing on both the number of categories recalled and the number of items per category recalled. Clustering was observed at both age-levels but appeared unrelated to recall performance. Some of the results are discussed in connection with a retrieval deficit hypothesis. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Immediate and delayed recall of words and pictures.

Examined free and serial recall of words and pictures associates in 3 experiments with 156 Ss. In immediate free recall, presentation of pictorial material increased only the secondary memory component of recall, relative to conditions involving presentation of verbal materials. No such facilitation occurred in immediate serial recall. In delayed recall tests, negative recency effects were obtained only for verbal materials, in both free and serial recall. Recency effects were either nonnegative or positive with pictures as to-be-remembered material. Results are discussed in terms of the locus of word-picture differences and the adequacy of verbal memory model explanations for them. (French summary) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Young children's (Homo sapiens) understanding of knowledge formation in themselves and others.

Three- and 4-yr-old children were tested for comprehension of knowledge formation. In Exp 1, 34 Ss watched as a surprise was hidden under 1 of 4 obscured cups. The experimenter then pointed to the cup. All children searched under the correct cup, but no 3-yr-olds (in contrast to most 4-yr-olds) could explain how they knew where to look. Ss then discriminated between simultaneous pointing by 2 adults, one who had hidden a surprise and one who had left the room before the surprise was hidden. Most 4-yr-olds (but no 3-yr-olds) showed clear discrimination between the adults. In Exp 2, 16 Ss were tested with procedures designed to make the source of their own knowledge more obvious, but this had no effect on performance. It is concluded that studies using very similar procedures with chimpanzees and rhesus macaques were measuring an ability (or inability) to understand how knowledge states form. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)