Preschool children's retention of rhyming and nonrhyming text: paraphrase and rote recitation measures

In this study, we sought to clarify the effect that rhyme has on young children's short-term retention of story narratives. Sixty-four preschool children were read rhymed or nonrhyming versions of a short story where the semantic content differed only in the arrangement of lines across test stanzas. For each type of narrative, one half of the subjects attempted rote recitation of exact stody language. The remaining subjects were asked to paraphrase semantic content. Analyses revealed that rhyme enhanced word-for-word recitation in correct sequential order, whereas nonrhyming presentations evoked initial faciliotation of semantic paraphrase. The findings are discussed in terms of transfer-appropriate and levels-of-processing memory models.