Examining the Level of Specificity School-age Children use During Free Recall of Naturalistic Events

• In Event: Poster Session 06
  In Poster Session: PS 06 Topic - Attention, Learning, Memory

Abstract

Free recall measures are often used to study episodic memory (EM), which is memory for past events from a specific time and place (Tulving 1972). In free recall paradigms, adults study lists of words, for example, and then are asked to recall the words from the list. Memory is measured by the number of items (e.g., words) recalled. Relatively little is known about free recall in children. Further, previous studies in the child and adult memory literature often use word or object-based study lists, learned and tested in one day. The present research is a naturalistic study in which children experienced engaging events across a week. Participants were 4-to 10-year-olds (N= 144) who took part in a 5-day camp at a local zoo. Children visited various animals every day. On day 5, children were asked to recall the names of all the animals they visited during the week. An analysis of variance revealed age-related improvements in the number of animals recalled, F(2, 141)= 43.15, p<.0001, ηp2=.38. Four to 5-year-old children (M = 3.27, SD = 3.00) recalled fewer animals than 6- to 7-year-olds (M = 7.28, SD = 4.64), and 6- to 7-year-olds recalled fewer animals than 8- to 10-year-old children (M = 14.13, SD = 8.21). All effects survived the Bonferroni correction for multiple comparisons. In addition, we examined the level of specificity children used in their responses. For example, if a child recalled “tiger” that was considered a general response, however, if the child recalled a specific type of tiger such as “amur tiger” that was coded as a specific response. An analysis of variance showed age related improvements in the number of specific animals recalled, F(2, 141)= 34.3, p<.0001, ηp2 =.70. Tukey HSD test indicated that the mean score for 4- to 5-year-old children (M = 1.13 , SD = 1.14) was significantly lower than both the 6- to 7-year-olds (M = 6.70, SD = 3.62) and 8- to 10-year-olds (M = 7.37, SD = 5.58); the two oldest age groups did not differ. A second analysis was done to examine age group differences in the level of specificity while taking into account the total number of animals recalled. An analysis of variance showed age related improvements in the level of specificity, F(2, 140)= 9.17, p<.0001, ηp2 =.0.35. Tukey HSD test indicated that this score for 4- to 5-year-old children (M = 0.25, SD = 0.26) did not significantly differ from 6- to 7-year-olds children (M = 0.32, SD = 0.19). However, both younger age groups’ scores were lower than that for 8- to 10-year-olds (M = 0.43, SD = 0.14). Our findings show that not only are there age related improvements in the number of items recalled, but also in the specificity with which those items are recalled. This work adds to the small number of free recall studies using “real life” events, engaged over a week, and highlights the utility of naturalistic memory studies. Implications for our understanding of episodic memory development will be discussed.

Authors

• Lina Deker, York University
  Presenting Author

• Thanujeni Pathman, York University
  Non-Presenting Author