This experiment was designed to test whether paired objects described as interacting through movement are more memorable to young children than the same objects described as alike in structure or color. Drawings of eight familiar objects were presented in unfamiliar combinations to forty-five 4-year-old subjects. Objects were described as…

The results of this study support the assumption that long-term memory is not modified when a person performs a task utilizing an automatic process. Twelve university students performed an incidental learning task which consisted of scanning lists of words for either their own name, first names other than their own, words representing a unit of…

This study examined the effect of presentation rate on accuracy of digit serial recall and on serial position curves of digit strings of different lengths with 18 boys classified as reading retarded and a comparison group of children (ages for both groups averaged 11 years) who read at grade level. The results indicated that normal children…

A theory for representation of concepts in memory is proposed which emphasizes the association of salient exemplars with the concept. Previous theories dealing with the classification processes involved in acquiring new concepts have shown that clear category boundaries do not exist. It is proposed that present theory must account for the…

Twenty kindergarten children, 5 to 6 years of age, were presented a free recall task in which half of the subjects were asked to generate a "plan of attack" for remembering before experiencing a study-test sequence. The materials were three different sets of 12 pictures each. In each set, three different conceptual categories were represented…

The theoretical and methodological concepts available to and needed by research on aptitudes as cognitive processes are discussed. Contemporary views of cognitive processes are examined in relation to individual difference constructs and the methods used to examine their reliability and validity. Individual difference constructs are discussed in…

The knowledge system of the young child is considered script-based, where script is used (in the Schank and Abelson 1977 sense) as a frame defining an expected sequence of actions in a given context involving props, scenes, and actors. This study was concerned with how scripts may be influenced by the structure of different events and the child's…

The purpose of this study was to ascertain (1) whether young children are able to recognize a need to check response accuracy and memory verification and (2) what strategies they use. A model of the nursery room was used to assess 37 preschoolers' recognition, recall, and spatial memory for school objects. Children were asked to verify their…

Three experiments investigated concept identification and recall of information as a function of four selected variables: concept complexity, method of instance presentation, stimulus exposure time, and conditions of recall. In all three experiments, retention was measured by the recall of instance values and the recall of instance categories. The…

This paper is concerned with memory functions in sequentially structured behavior. Twenty-five 4- and 5-year-old preschool children participated in a prediction experiment in which a stack of cards (each card alternately having a patch of red or green tape on it) was displayed to the child. The child was presented with a card and asked to predict…

The paper focuses on the need for utilizing current research findings relative to developmental differences in memory and metamemory (knowing about knowing) behaviors among populations of normal and mentally retarded learners. Results of a series of studies which investigated the developmental attributes of memory and metamemory behavior among…

Compared was the visual memory of 18 deaf and 18 normal hearing children (7- to 12-years-old). Ss' visual discrimination and visual memory were tested with filmstrip materials from Project LIFE (Language Improvement to Facilitate Education). Time scores and error scores were used to measure the performances of both groups. Results showing that…

A cognition theory of learning is described based on information processing analyses of representations of knowledge in long term, intermediate term, and short term memory. An application of the theory is presented for an example of algebra. It is emphasized that learning is not simply a stamping in, through repetition, of simple links. The…

Evidence was found for an ability to monitor during learning the degree of retrievability of the to-be-learned material from memory at time of a subsequent test. Students were given three successive study trials to learn either a list of 60 paired associates or a free-recall list of 60 "unrelated" words. During a fourth study trial, they rated on…

Sixty subjects learned four different 16-word lists in four different conditions. Within each list, every word was repeated. The four conditions were defined by a 2 (whole vs. blocked presentation) by 2 (same order vs. random order repetition) factorial design. An unexpected final free recall followed the immediate free recall of the fourth list.…