PRODUCTION DEFICIENCY IN YOUNG CHILDRENS CLUSTERED RECALL

Children in kindergarten and Grades 1, 3, and 5 (N = 160) were isolated for 2-min study periods, during which they were free to manipulate pictures of categorized objects (animals, furniture, etc.) which were later to be recalled. The 3 younger groups showed a production deficiency but no mediation deficiency in this task situation: (1) except when assisted to do so by hints or instructions, they tended not to rearrange the pictures into spatial groups by class membership during the study periods, a study tactic which the oldest Ss tended to adopt spontaneously; (2) given such assistance, however, the resulting increase in study period manual clustering was accompanied by a decided increase in subsequent recall. (18 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved). © 1969 American Psychological Association.