Abstract
Kindergarten, third-grade, fifth-grade, and college subjects were asked to memorize a single set of randomly arrayed items containing readily identifiable categories. The items were available during four trials, each trial consisting of a 30-sec study period followed by a free recall test. Preceding the last three trials, each subject was allowed to select one-third of the to-be-remembered items for study but was asked to attempt recall of all the items. The strategy of selecting items from the same category for study was rarely used spontaneously by kindergartners but was used by the older subjects. Efficiency comparisons suggested that this strategy would prove useful to kindergartners if used by them.
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McIntyre, C.W., Weaver, C.T., Lovelace, E.A. et al. Developmental changes in the use of categorization as a study strategy. Bull. Psychon. Soc. 11, 407–410 (1978). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03336868
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03336868