Contemplating Fuzzy-Trace Theory: The Gist of It

Abstract

Brainerd and Reyna (1998, this issue) have described fuzzy-trace theory as a basic-processing theory, emphasizing age differences in children's disposition to use verbatim versus gist representations. The theoretical climate of the 1980's, when fuzzy-trace theory was first formulated, is described. Fuzzy-trace theory integrated new ideas about how cognitive development was viewed into a coherent framework, which only gradually gained acceptance as critical aspects of the theory were confirmed, counterintuitive findings were predicted and demonstrated, and other researchers began applying the theory. Fuzzy-trace theory converges with other contemporary theoretical accounts in raising the general issue of the relation between two developing representational systems and is consistent with the idea that immature (a bias toward verbatim encoding) and mature (a bias toward gist encoding) have both advantages and disadvantages at different times in development. By integrating the theory with ideas from social-contextual perspectives, the theory may have a greater impact in the future for issues of social significance.