Patterns of memory abilities in two cultures.

Presents evidence that patterns of abilities, rather than absolute differences along a single dimension, are the best cross-cultural evidence for the effects of environment and culture upon memory development. An object and place recall task was administered to 96 5- and 7-yr-old Ss in the US and in a village in Guatemala. Actual vs verbal presentation of the objects and places to be remembered was varied. Place recall was better than object recall in the Guatemalan but not in the American children. Results suggest that environment and culture can contribute to the differential development of various mnemonic abilities. Soviet suggestions regarding the role of external mediators were also supported. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Teaching behaviors of 9- and 11-year-old girls in mixed-age and same-age dyads.

Examined the hypothesis that the accommodations made by tutors according to the age of their tutees are not specific to the CA of the tutors themselves. Ss were 32 11-yr-old, 32 9-yr-old, and 16 7-yr-old females. Ss who were 9 and 11 yrs old, having learned the rules governing a board game, were asked to teach other Ss to play the game. Nine-year-old tutors taught 9- and 7-yr-old tutees; 11-yr-old tutors taught 11-, 9-, and 7-yr-olds. The tutees' behaviors did not vary among these dyads, but the behaviors of their tutors did. Tutors instructing younger Ss used repetitions, strategic advice, progress checkups, direct assistance, and praise more frequently than tutors who instructed same-age tutees. Overall, results are consistent with the hypothesis that elementary school children possess an implicit "theory of teaching," which assumes that younger children require more cognitive structuring and more supportive and corrective feedback than same-age children. (13 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

How good is the evidence for a production deficiency among learning disabled students?

[Correction Notice: An erratum for this article was reported in Vol 77(6) of Journal of Educational Psychology (see record 2008-10974-001). Figures 1 and 2 (p. 557 and 559, respectively) are reversed. The captions are correct, but Figure 1 should be above the caption for Figure 2 and Figure 2 should be above the caption for Figure 1.] Investigated the spontaneous use of mnemonic strategies by learning disabled (LD) and non-LD children and adolescents to examine whether LD Ss can be distinguished from their non-LD peers on the basis of strategy use and recall. In Exp I, 105 LD and 105 non-LD 9–15 yr olds were administered a picture study/recall task, in which the strategies of interest were categorical organization during study and clustering during recall. In Exp II, 140 LD and 140 non-LD 11–17 yr olds were administered a paired-associate recall task, in which the strategy of interest was elaboration. In both studies, LD Ss earned lower mean recall scores than did the non-LD Ss. As a group, LD Ss did not differ from non-LD Ss in the use of categorical organization during study but showed less categorical clustering at recall. Fewer LD Ss used elaboration. Despite these differences, recall and strategy use were not useful predictors of classification as LD or non-LD and were only weak to moderate correlates of academic achievement. (24 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"How good is the evidence for a production deficiency among learning disabled students?": Correction to Shepherd et al.

Reports an error in "How good is the evidence for a production deficiency among learning disabled students" by Margaret J. Shepherd, Lynn M. Gelzheiser and Roberta A. Solar (Journal of Educational Psychology, 1985[Oct], Vol 77[5], 553-561). Figures 1 and 2 (p. 557 and 559, respectively) are reversed. The captions are correct, but Figure 1 should be above the caption for Figure 2 and Figure 2 should be above the caption for Figure 1. (The following abstract of the original article appeared in record 1986-14779-001.) Investigated the spontaneous use of mnemonic strategies by learning disabled (LD) and non-LD children and adolescents to examine whether LD Ss can be distinguished from their non-LD peers on the basis of strategy use and recall. In Exp I, 105 LD and 105 non-LD 9-15 yr olds were administered a picture study/recall task, in which the strategies of interest were categorical organization during study and clustering during recall. In Exp II, 140 LD and 140 non-LD 11-17 yr olds were administered a paired-associate recall task, in which the strategy of interest was elaboration. In both studies, LD Ss earned lower mean recall scores than did the non-LD Ss. As a group, LD Ss did not differ from non-LD Ss in the use of categorical organization during study but showed less categorical clustering at recall. Fewer LD Ss used elaboration. Despite these differences, recall and strategy use were not useful predictors of classification as LD or non-LD and were only weak to moderate correlates of academic achievement. (24 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Developmental and intellectual differences in self-report and strategy use.

The veridicality and reactivity of children's self-report of covert and overt memory strategies were investigated in a task allowing a direct comparison of self-report and the strategy observed. External memory strategies (e.g., moving objects) were investigated with 7-, 9-, 11-, and 17-year-old typical children and 11- and 17-year-old children with mild mental retardation. Participants placed objects in specified spatial locations after hearing sequences of tape-recorded sentences. After each trial, half of the children immediately reported the strategy used. There were strong positive correlations between the frequency of reported strategy use and observed strategy use. Self-reports were accurate but not always complete. There was no effect of the self-reporting procedure on measures of verbal strategies, external memory strategies, and accuracy of recall. Children were less likely to report strategies not related to recall; these results are compatible with a "goal-sketch" mechanism. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Attentional strategies, attention, and metacognition in Puerto Rican children.

60 2nd-, 5th-, and 8th-grade Puerto Ricans participated in a strategy assessment task and an incidental learning task that provided a measure of attentional performance. Metacognition concerning attention was assessed by asking Ss to predict how much incidental material they would recall. ANOVAs revealed no developmental changes in the use of an efficient attentional strategy, the amount of central recall, the amount of incidental recall, or in metacognitive knowledge. Results differ from a previous study by the 1st author and M. G. Weiss with 60 predominantly White, middle-class Florida children in which attention and strategies became increasingly efficient as a function of age. In comparison to the Florida sample, Puerto Rican 2nd graders' strategies were more efficient and the 8th graders' strategies were less efficient. Attention on the incidental learning task was less selective for the Puerto Rican Ss than the Florida Ss. (9 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Use of causal attributions about recall performance to assess metamemory and predict strategic memory behavior in young children.

27 1st graders and 24 2nd graders were exposed to a memory task in which their recall performance varied as a function of their incidentally elicited sorting behavior. When asked what had affected their recall, only some Ss at each grade identified sorting as a causal factor, although all had used sorting. Attributions about sorting could not be accounted for by differential memory for sorting behavior or by differential use of sorting on previous trials. Causal attributions, but neither previous sorting nor nonattributional verbal reports about sorting behavior, predicted use of a sorting strategy in a standard, study-recall task 1 wk later. Ss who had attributed recall to sorting tended not to use rehearsal strategies on the subsequent task, suggesting that causal attributions reflected their views about what were the most important influences on recall. Ss' ability to assess their recall performance and their insight into possible mechanisms by which sorting affects recall are discussed as avenues for future research into how children acquire their ideas about factors that affect memory. (30 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Examination of the effects of state anxiety on problem-solving efficiency under high and low memory conditions.

33 college students were required to solve simple problems presented in a blank-trials format with and without memory aids. It was found that high state-anxious Ss (State-Trait Anxiety Inventory) solved fewer problems than middle or low state-anxious Ss under no memory-aid conditions, and all anxiety groups performed comparably with memory aids. High state-anxious Ss tended to use less focusing strategy when memory aids were unavailable. The importance of memory in focusing strategies and problem solution is discussed. (11 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)     

Differential memory changes with age: Exact retrieval versus plausible inference.

Conducted 2 experiments on the use of direct retrieval and plausibility memory strategies in elderly and college-age adults. In Exp I, which used an episodic memory task, data were obtained from 49 65–80 yr old college alumni and from 58 college students who had served in a previous study by the 1st author (see record 1983-02731-001). Findings indicate that older Ss effectively used the plausibility strategy but performed more poorly than younger Ss when the direct retrieval strategy was required. Results of Exp II, using 18 college alumni (8 Ss aged 20–31 yrs, 10 Ss aged 64–75 yrs) with a semantic memory task, show that older Ss' accuracy was essentially undistinguishable from that of younger Ss as long as a plausibility judgment process produced the correct response. It is argued that careful inspection is a much more costly process for older adults than it is for young adults but that plausibility judgments and feature overlap processes are equally easy for both age groups. (44 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sex identity in American children: Memory, knowledge, and preference tests.

Tested recall, knowledge and preference for masculine and feminine items in 240 US 5- and 8-yr-old white boys and girls from working-class and professional middle-class families. Ss recalled, knew, and preferred same-sex items significantly more than opposite-sex items. Girls' scores were less rigidly sex typed than were boys'. Older Ss showed greater stereotypy in preference tests than did younger ones. Sex differences in preference scores of older Ss were greater in the working than in the middle class. Compared with data for English 5 yr olds, US girls appeared less sex typed than did their English counterparts and accounted for the predicted decrease in sex polarity of preference scores. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Story comprehension and recall in learning-disabled versus normal college students.

24 learning-disabled (LD) and 24 normal college students rated stories on the importance of their idea units. LD Ss showed significantly less agreement on their importance ratings than the normal Ss. Ss also selected 12 idea units as retrieval cues, one group before and the other after recall. This task showed that normal Ss selecting cues after recall used a different strategy than those selecting cues before recall; LD Ss did not vary their cue-selection strategy as a function of experience. In spite of these differences, recall increased significantly at higher importance levels for both ability groups, and recall did not differ for LD and normal Ss who selected retrieval cues after recall. Cue selection before recall, however, depressed performance of LD Ss relative to that of the normal Ss. (14 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Do I see only what I expect? Evidence for an expectancy-guided retrieval model.

The article proposes an expectancy-guided retrieval model of memory reconstruction. In all 3 experiments, Ss were presented with a student's grade report that they would later have to recall. As predicted by the model, the results of Experiment 1 indicate that Ss' recall was significantly influenced both by manipulations of Ss' expectancies about the student's future performance and by manipulations of outcome information. The results of Experiment 2 show that Ss were sensitive to variations in the original information, indicating the use of expectancy-guided retrieval rather than simply expectancy-based inference or guessing. However, the results of Experiment 3 indicate that the proposed retrieval process (resulting in expectancy-consistent recall) is not inevitable; retrieval accuracy was significantly improved by giving Ss either an alternative retrieval strategy, a monetary incentive, or both manipulations. The possible cognitive and motivational components mediating Ss' use of the proposed retrieval strategy are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Acute and chronic effects of alcohol use on organizational processes in memory.

Tested 24 25-50 yr old males selected on the basis of their drinking histories (alcoholics, heavy drinkers, and social drinkers) on a series of tasks assessing organizational processes in memory. Each S was tested once while sober and once while intoxicated (blood alcohol level = 100 mg%). No systematic differences emerged as a function of drinking history, but alcohol intoxication had several detrimental effects on memory performance. Intoxicated Ss recalled less information, had lower organizational scores, and learned at slower rates. Both storage and retrieval processes were adversely affected by alcohol, although retrieval processes were somewhat responsive to experimental manipulations. Findings are discussed in terms of the passive or unsystematic encoding strategies in intoxicated Ss that lowered the efficiency of their semantic organization and recall. (17 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Young children's knowledge of the relative difficulty of recognition and recall memory tasks.

16 kindergarten and 16 1st-grade children were told stories about twins who were given recognition and recall memory tasks; Ss judged which of the twins remembered more of identical sets of to-be-remembered items. Contrary to the implications of other recent work, it was found that a number of Ss gave clear evidence that they believe recognition tasks to be easier than recall tasks. It is argued that this item of acquired metamemory may be important in the later development of the retrieval strategy of converting recall tasks into recognition tasks. (2 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The relationship between selected cognitive abilities and learning: A second look.

Examined the relationship between learning strategies and cognitive abilities in 3 experiments using a total of 420 3rd-12th graders from rural school as Ss. Ability tests given to Ss included Raven's Progressive Matrices and a digit span test. Based on the argument that such relationships ought to follow predictable and differentiated patterns, different strategy manipulations were used in an attempt to moderate the relationship between reasoning and memory abilities and free recall and paired associate learning. Results suggest that meaningful differential interrelations can be demonstrated as long as the processes and strategies forming the link between learning and ability test performance are both potent and well understood. Implications for future research into the cross-linkages between intelligence and learning tasks are discussed. (38 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Structural analysis of memory traces in children from 4 to 10 years of age.

In 2 experiments, items from 4 (or 8) semantic categories were presented in 4 (or 8) colors located at 4 (or 8) spatial positions. In a recall task, a total of 48 4-, 7-, and 10-yr-olds were given semantic, color, and locational cues. The probability of successful cued recall to each type of cue and cue combination was used to estimate the proportion of memory traces that contained the various types of information. Although recall increased with age, the relative effectiveness of the 3 types of cues did not, and the estimated proportion of memory traces for the set of items that contained semantic information was higher than the estimated proportion having color and locational information. Retention of one type of cue information was not independent of retention of other types of cue information; Ss of all ages tended to retain either none or more than 1 of the 3 kinds of information. (21 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Note-taking, individual differences, and memory for lecture information.

Investigated the encoding function of note taking and processing differences between successful and less successful students in lecture situations in 2 experiments. In Exp I, 48 undergraduates either took notes or listened during a lecture. Different memory patterns were found for these 2 groups, with note-takers recalling many more high- than low-importance propositions and listeners recalling an equal number of high- and low-importance propositions. Results suggest that note taking enhanced organizational processing of lecture information. In Exp II, the notes and recall of 80 successful and less successful students were compared. Successful Ss recalled more of the most important propositions, but these 2 groups of Ss did not differ in their recall of less important propositions. For both groups of Ss, recall content was closely related to the content of the notes, with successful Ss recording more high-importance propositions in their notes. Also, successful and less successful Ss were similar in their note-taking styles and the degree to which they benefited from reviewing their notes. (17 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Memorization processes in reading-disabled children

Investigated the hypothesis that frequently found short-term memory deficits in poor readers may reflect a lack of ability or inclination to use efficient memorization strategies. The performance of 20 good and 20 poor 4th-grade readers was compared on 2 tasks which allowed direct observation of Ss' study behavior as they tried to memorize various materials. Ss in the 2 groups differed significantly in their recall scores on both tasks and also engaged in different kinds of study behavior. Good readers consistently approached both tasks in a more active and organized manner. When all Ss were instructed in the use of efficient strategies, poor readers performed as well as good readers. (26 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)