| Abstract: | Second and fifth grade children were aurally presented a study list containing eight target items plus primacy and recency buffers, followed first by free recall, then by cued recall for items not produced in free recall. Two additional buffer items were used at Grade 5 in an effort to equate the two age groups in free recall of targets. The cues were either of high or of moderate associative strength, and equal for the two age groups. Free recall of targets did not differ with age, suggesting equivalent storage of targets. At Grade 2 the cued recall level matched expectations based on a simple associative account of cuing effects. However, cued recall at Grade 5 was much higher than the normative association values, implicating strategic retrieval operations, the possible nature of which was discussed. |
