THE ROLE OF ASSOCIATIVITY IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF STRATEGIC ORGANIZATION IN CHILDREN'S MEMORY

Degree granted: Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 1984.
Summary: Cognitive theorists hypothesize two types of cognitive processes (e.g., automatic and effortful) which may influence human information processing. This thesis investigates age differences in when children use intralist associative relationships (thought to be automatic in nature) to identify other (categorical) relations. Use of conceptual/ categorical relations to organize recall is thought to be effortful in nature. Sixty children each from grades 3, 5, 7, and 9 were presented orally with lists of 20 words under free-recall instructions. Results provide support for the position that recall memory of young children is mediated primarily by associative rather than conceptual relationships. Also, partial support was obtained for the three stage model of the development of organization proposed by Bjorklund and Zeman (1982). However, the model's prediction of when children will optimally use associative relationships to identify categorized relations was inaccurate. These results indicate that older childrens' recall can be facilitated by automatic cognitive processes resulting in higher levels of clustering (organization) and recall.
Charles E. Schmidt College of Science
Collection: FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection