Developmental changes in memorization processes

Developmental changes in two broad classes of memory-related phenomena were studied, using nursery school, kindergarten, second grade, and fourth grade children as Ss: (1) the production and strategic deployment over time of various types of memorization activities; (2) S's knowledge concerning his own memory. With regard to (1), only the older Ss in this study tended to show a specific, fairly complex memorization strategy when given unlimited time to study a set of items to the point of perfect serial recall. The strategy appeared to consist of first naming the items to oneself to initiate the learning process, and of subsequently using systematic anticipation and rehearsal procedures to monitor and maintain one's gradually increasing state of recall readiness. As for (2), the older Ss were likewise better able than the younger ones, both to predict their own memory span in advance of any concrete memorization experience, and to assess their readiness to recall after such experience. It was concluded that the two phenomena are intimately interrelated in the older child's memorization activities, and that the nature and development of S's knowledge and awareness of his own memory system is a particularly important and timely research problem.