Flexibility in children's use of spatial and categorical organizational strategies in recall.

Abstract

Two studies investigated flexibility in children's use of spatial and categorical clustering strategies in recall. In Study 1, 10-, 12-, 14-, and 16-year-olds and adults recalled the furniture from their home. Ten-year-olds organized furniture categorically, and 16-year-olds and adults organized items spatially. Twelve- and 14-year-olds exhibited equal levels of spatial and categorical organization. Study 2 investigated how encoding experiences and the recall task influenced the degree of spatial and categorical organization in 10-and 12-year-olds'recall. When recalling objects, 10-and 12-year-olds exhibited higher levels of categorical than spatial organization. When recalling objects and their locations, 12-year-olds exhibited more spatial than categorical organization. Results are discussed in terms of age and task influences on flexibility of strategy use. The finding that children's memory performance increases when items are clustered categorically during retrieval has stimulated a great deal of interest in how organizational strategies emerge throughout the course of childhood (e.g., Belmont & Butterfield, 1977; Cole, Frankel, & Sharp, 1971; Frankel & Rollins, 1985; Lange, 1973; Moely, Olson, Halwes, & Flavell, 1969; Ornstein, Naus, & Liberty, 1975; Schneider, 1986). Although research in this area has provided insight into how children's use of categorical clustering strategies develops, few studies have investigated the development of other organizational strategies and how children and adults use their repertoire of organizational strategies to meet the demands of varying task conditions. In particular, little is known about the use of spatial location as a principled means of grouping objects in free recall. In most memory paradigms the objects are not given distinctive stable positions within a spatial framework, and thus subjects cannot use location to organize recall. In everyday encounters with objects, however, individuals often make note of where objects are in addition to what kinds of objects they see. Presumably, both types of information are available for organizing one's recall of those objects. The primary purpose of the studies reported here is to provide a broader picture of the development of organizational strategies by observing the conditions under which children of differing ages use categorical and spatial clustering strategies when both are simultaneously available for recalling a set of objects.