Baker-Ward L, Ornstein P, Holden D J
J Exp Child Psychol. 1984 Jun;37(3):555-75. doi: 10.1016/0022-0965(84)90076-6.
This experiment examined the expression and effectiveness of memorization in young children. Sixty children at each of the ages 4, 5, and 6 were randomly assigned to a memory group or to one of two control groups. All of the children were told that they could play with a group of toys during a brief activity period; the children in the memory condition were also instructed to memorize a specified subset of the toys. Mnemonic mediators were identified on the basis of differences in the activity period behaviors of children given memory and play instructions. Relative to the children in the play groups, the children in the memory conditions played with the toys less; further, their use of naming and visual examination as mnemonic mediators differentiated the groups at all ages and increased with age. Only the oldest subjects given memory instructions, however, demonstrated superior recall. The relationships between activity period behavior and recall among the different conditions were explored with regression techniques. although previous research has focused on identifying the earliest use of memory strategies, the present findings underscore the importance of examining the development of these skills.
本实验研究了幼儿记忆的表现及效果。4岁、5岁和6岁的儿童各60名，被随机分为记忆组或两个控制组之一。所有儿童都被告知，在一个简短的活动期间，他们可以玩一组玩具；处于记忆条件下的儿童还被指示记住玩具的一个特定子集。根据接受记忆和玩耍指令的儿童在活动期间行为的差异，确定了记忆中介。与玩耍组的儿童相比，处于记忆条件下的儿童玩玩具的时间较少；此外，他们将命名和视觉检查用作记忆中介的方式在所有年龄段都区分了不同组，并且随着年龄增长而增加。然而，只有年龄最大且接受记忆指令的受试者表现出更好的回忆能力。运用回归技术探究了不同条件下活动期间行为与回忆之间的关系。尽管先前的研究侧重于确定记忆策略的最早使用情况，但目前的研究结果强调了研究这些技能发展的重要性。
