Chapter 1 A Tale of Two Settings: Young Children'S Memory Performance in The Laboratory and The Field

Abstract

This chapter discusses young children's memory performance in the laboratory and the field. Studies of memory in “real-world” settings have resulted in descriptions of children's performance, indeed sophistication, that stand in marked contrast to earlier accounts based on remembering in the laboratory. Several conflicting themes are explored in this chapter in which the nature of research on the development of memory conducted inside and outside of the laboratory is examined. Research on children's memory carried out at these alternate “venues” can be profitably analyzed in terms of a number of fundamental characteristics, such as the degree of experimental control present, the nature of the materials to be remembered, etc. The chapter discusses limitations and advantages of field and laboratory studies. The understanding of memory development can be advanced only by examining performance in multiple contexts, so that the full range of behavior as affected by these factors can be examined. The approaches can be characterized by the degree to which the researcher exerts control over the subject's experience. This control can extend to the very selection of the memory task and the specification of the conditions under which it is performed, including the instructions to the subject and information processing supports. An additional important dimension concerns the subject's knowledge of the information or event that is to be remembered. The current cognitive zeitgeist emphasizes the competencies rather than the deficits of young children.