Poster #51 - Can Children Predict and Monitor their Memory for Word Mappings?

• In Event: Poster Session 10

Abstract

Introduction. Metacognitive abilities are important for facilitating word learning in older children and adults (e.g., Wenden, 1998). Metamemory is a crucial component of metacognition because it enables individuals to monitor their learning and/or performance over time (e.g., Maki & Berry, 1984). To our knowledge, there are few studies that have explored whether young children use metamemory skills to monitor new word mappings. Critically, no studies have examined whether children can reliably assess their ability to remember newly learned words. The current study addresses this gap in the literature by starting to build a theory of the metamemory process underlying early word learning.

Methods. Thirty 4- to 7-year-old children were presented with a series of memory and word learning tasks via Zoom (17 female, age range: 48 – 84 months). Children at this point of development were chosen because it has been argued to be the period of development in which metacognitive abilities emerge (Sperling et al., 2000) and children are rapidly learning new words. Parents completed a receptive vocabulary checklist, the Developmental Vocabulary Assessment for Parents (DVAP; Libertus et al., 2015), for their child prior to the study session.
In the first half of the study, children were presented with two memory tasks (Figure 1). One task assessed children’s knowledge and understanding of the words “remember” and “forget” (Panel A). Another task assessed children’s understanding whether different individual or circumstantial variables, such as age, time, or distractions, help or hinder memory for newly learned information (Panel B). In the second half of the study, children learned eight novel words via a fast-mapping paradigm (Figure 2). In the learning phase, children heard a novel word paired with an object and were asked to make a judgement of learning (JOL). After a 5-minute delay, children completed a two forced-choice recognition test of the novel word/object pairings and provided a JOL about whether they remembered, forgot, or didn’t know if they remembered each pairing.

Results. Children were at ceiling (M = 3.93., SD = .254) for the remember and forget understanding task, t(29) = -1.4, p =.161 and there was good variance across responses across the memory variables task and fast-mapping, such that most children’s responses fell within the middle 50% of response options. We found no correlation between children’s ability to predict their memory for the word/object parings and age. We did, however, find a significantly positive correlation between children’s monitoring ability and age, r(29) = .369, p = .045.

Conclusions. We found that children between the ages of four and seven understand what the words “remember” and “forget” mean, indicating that they can distinguish between these two types of memory processes and could successfully complete the judgements of learning. We also found a significant correlation between children’s age and their ability to monitor their memory for recently learned words, but not their ability to predict which words they will remember. Thus, these data suggest that monitoring performance may develop during this period of development, but predictive skills do not.

Authors

• Ashley L Ezpeleta, University of Wisconsin - Madison
  Presenting Author

• Haley A Vlach, University of Wisconsin - Madison