The effects of rehearsal and chunking instructions on children's multitrial free recall

Abstract

Age differences in multitrial free recall were examined by administering three instructional conditions to Ss in Grades I, V, and IX: ( a) standard instructions; ( b) overtly rehearse during picture presentation; ( c) “chunk” the items by establishing mediational links. Recall, organization, and S-units (subjective groupings) increased with Grade. At Grade I, type of instruction had no effect on recall or organization but S-units increased under chunking instructions. All performance measures, at Grade V, were facilitated by chunking instructions. An adultlike performance pattern, a slight improvement under chunking instructions and a small decline with rehearsal instructions, was obtained at Grade IX. The discussion considered: the relation between age and memory mechanisms; the productional, mediational, and retrieval aspects of children's organization.