THE INVESTIGATION OF INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES IN LANGUAGE RECEPTION

Abstract

Abstract This review article considers the way in which language is received and transformed, or recoded, into forms that can be stored in memory. The analysis process is traced from the initial perceptual segmentation of language into word groups, to its eventual semantic classification. It is suggested that individual differences in children's recoding ability is a significant cause of variation in learning performance, and this is supported by reference to developmental studies of coding. Methods of determining a child's recording strategies are proposed together with an outline of areas for future research.