Abstract
The present study was conducted to evaluate pictorial elaboration effects in children’s incidental paired associate memory. The design of the experiment consisted of a 2 by 2 by 2 by 5 factorial with grade level (kindergarten vs. second), pictorial presentation (standard vs. elaborated), list (two 14-pair lists of common noun referents), and instruction (a memory control and four different incidental memory conditions). One hundred and twenty children at each grade level were tested individually by the study-test paired associate method. The results indicate that pictorial elaboration facilitated paired associate performance relative to standard presentation; this outcome was not influenced by the factor of age or of instruction. The results were interpreted in terms of an automatic encoding hypothesis.
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This research was supported by Biomedical Science Support Grant RR07012 from the Division of Research Resources, Bureau of Health Professions, Education, and Manpower Training, National Institutes of Health. Appreciation is expressed to the children and staff of the participating schools from the Los Angeles Unified School District for their assistance in the completion of this project.
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Kee, D.W., Nakayama, S.Y. Automatic elaborative encoding in children’s associative memory. Bull. Psychon. Soc. 16, 287–290 (1980). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03329545
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03329545