Retrieval search for category and thematic information in memory by children and adults

Retrieval search for the last target word of four noun category (Bus-Airplane-Car-Train) and thematic (Suitcase-Coat-Ticket-Train) stimuli by children and adults was examined in four experiments. Stimulus classification at acquisition was ensured by orienting questions. Associative search structures were externalized more or less at retrieval by providing cues reinstating the whole (Bus-Airplane-Car) or only part (Bus-Airplane, or Bus) of the associative context, cues with the same or changed (Car-Bus-Airplane) word order, or cues representing the stimulus classification (Vehicle). The results suggest that the associative structures of memory help constrain and mediate retrieval search for stimulus information, and that these structures as well as representations of the stimulus events in memory seem to differ for thematic and category events, and for children and adults, contributing to search differences.