THE EFFECT OF NONVERBAL CUES ON THE RETENTION OF KINDERGARTEN CHILDREN

Abstract

4 methods of giving instructions (concerning manipulations of familiar obfects) were compared in terms of their effect on the nonverbal retention of 52 middle-class kindergarten Ss. Each of the conditions was presented to separate groups of Ss-13 per group. When nonverbal cues were presented simultaneously with a verbal instruction, retention was significantly greater than with the verbal instruction alone. The results are discussed in terms of the representational requirements for retention under the four conditions of presentation. Reviews of the literature on the memory span of children (Munn, 1954; Van De Moortel, 1965) have generally concluded that the memory span of preschool children is relatively limited but increases gradually with age. The direct conclusion from typical memory-span studies has led to the general assumption that memory capacity undergoes a relatively systematic change in terms of the quantity of material which can be retained. However, consideration of the representational requirements of typical memory span procedures in relation to developmental changes in the nature of the child's representational system suggests