Changes from visual to verbal memory organization as a function of age

The false recognition procedure was used to determine the relative dominance of visual and verbal memory organization at two grade levels. The results indicated that visual encoding was predominant for first-graders, but that both visual and verbal encoding occurred with fourth-graders.     

Development of strategies for recalling letter sequences

Kindergarten, second-grade, and fourth-grade children (6, 8, and 10 years of age, respectively) were asked to recall letter sequences on a task that required the use of: (a) a verbal strategy; (b) a positional strategy; or (c) either strategy. Additional trials, allowing either strategy, were interspersed among those requiring a verbal or positional strategy; strategy use was determined from performance on these interspersed trials. The results show that children at all grade levels attempted to use a task-appropriate strategy. Performance on the verbal task showed a more marked developmental increase than did performance on the positional task. A second experiment replicated the first with the interspersed trials removed. A third experiment was designed to determine whether letter names interfered with older children's efficient use of a positional strategy. Even with this source of interference removed, the developmental pattern of Experiments 1 and 2 was replicated. There was a Sex by Condition interaction in Experiments 2 and 3 which showed that males do better in the condition requiring a positional strategy, and females do better in the condition requiring a verbal strategy.     

Memory for orientation of forms as a function of their meaningfulness and complexity.

Accuracy of memory for left-right orientation of single figures varying in meaningfulness and complexity was studied in subjects from kindergarten to adulthood. Complexity was an unimportant variable. Orientation of meaningful figures was remembered better than orientation of nonmeaningful figures at all ages. There were no developmental differences in memory for meaningful figures beyond kindergarten, but pronounced developmental differences were found in memory for nonmeaningful figures. It was proposed that a decision to store orientation information is dependent upon a judgment about the meaningfulness of a presented figure, and that young children have more difficulty than adults in finding meaningfulness in unfamiliar forms. The decision to store appears to occur automatically, since there was only a small difference between conditions in which subjects were informed or not informed to remember orientation. It was also suggested that part of the often reported difficulty in remembering diagonal orientation may be due to the symmetry of the diagonal forms typically investigated.     

Memory for event frequency as a function of depression, age, intentionality, and level of processing

In two experiments, we examined memory for event frequency among depressed and/or elderly subjects (depression was either naturally occurring or induced by the Velten technique). We also manipulated level of processing and instructional set to test the notion that memory for event frequency is relatively invariant across a variety of tasks. Results supported the proposal that memory for frequency is robust in the face of depression and old age. Memory for frequency was enhanced, however, by semantic processing and by an intentional learning instructional set. Finally, the results suggest that the Velten technique not only induced variation in mood but also may have induced a semantic processing strategy in our depressed and elated subjects.     

Memory for words as a function of spelling transparency

The authors investigated the impact of spelling transparency on memory for words written in Persian orthography. Adult Persian university students (N = 212) performed in a memory recall experiment on 160 monosyllabic words printed on 8 cards (20 on each card) manipulated for spelling transparency, frequency, and imageability. Each card was presented randomly to the participants and they were asked to read the words aloud as quickly as possible. After reading each card, the participants were asked to engage in a digital addition task for 20 s (as a distracter), which was immediately followed by a request to write down as many words as possible from the cards in 40 s. No significant difference was found in the time to name aloud the opaque and transparent words, whereas on the memory recall task there were main effects for spelling, frequency, and imageability and significant 2-way and 3-way interactions. The effects were greatest for transparent spellings when they were of high frequency and high imageability or low frequency and low imageability. The implications of these findings are discussed.     

Developmental sequences in the age of onset of disruptive child behaviors

Retrospective and prospective reports of the onset of disruptive child behaviors were analyzed in a sample of clinic-referred boys. The younger boys (ages 7–9 years), compared with the older boys (ages 10–12 years), showed the highest level of disruptive behavior and, judging from mothers' reports, had the fastest progression of onsets from less serious to more serious problem behaviors. Despite some overlap, developmental sequences in problem behavior within the domains of hyperactivity/inattention, oppositional behavior, and conduct problems were similar across the two age groups. This was also the case for developmental sequences of overt or confrontive problem behaviors and covert or concealing conduct problems. Sequences of the onset of oppositional behavior and conduct problems were validated through prospective data, based on the information from mothers, teachers, and boys themselves. The implications of the findings are discussed for the formulation of developmental pathways of behavior and the analysis of causal factors.     

Intentional forgetting as a facilitator for recalling new product attributes

When market changes alter what product attributes are deemed important, consumers may intentionally try to forget old product information in an attempt to remember new product information. In Experiment 1, the authors demonstrated that intentional forgetting of this nature temporarily inhibits retrieval of old product information and leads to a benefit to memory for new product information. The results show that, after a short delay, benefits continue in the absence of costs, which is supportive of a multiple-process account of intentional forgetting. Experiment 2 extends these effects using an advertising message to stimulate forgetting. Across both experiments, results also show that brand preference is based on learning of new attribute information.     

Rule-governed imitative verbal behavior as a function of modeling procedures

The present study was designed to investigate the effectiveness of modelling procedures alone and modeling procedures complemented by the appropriate rule statement on the production of plurals. Twenty normal and 20 retarded children were randomly assigned to one of two learning conditions and to either affective or informative social reinforcement.It was necessary for the child to generate and use a rule in the production of his respones since he was unable to directly copy the model's verbal behavior. Normal and retarded children emitted more plurals during the experimental phase when observing a model who complemented his responses by the underlying rule.