Attribute dominance in memory development.

72 children, 36 each from the 1st and 6th grades, were given a 70-item study list followed by a recognition test list of equal length. Items were line drawings of common objects accompanied by orally presented verbal labels. To provide an indication of the relative dominance of features encoded at the 2 ages, labels, pictures, and referents were manipulated in various combinations to form visual, semantic, and acoustic distractors, which were included in the test list. Significant numbers of false recognitions (as measured against false-recognition rates for control words) were elicited by visual distractors for both age groups, by acoustic distractors for 1st graders and by semantic distractors for 6th graders and 1st grade females. Implications for hypotheses concerning the role of visual representation and the developmental onset of semantic encoding are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)