Date of Award

5-1-1982

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

Psychology

First Advisor

Dr. Joseph LaVoie

Second Advisor

Dr. Thomas Lorsbach

Third Advisor

Dr. Gregory Simpson

Fourth Advisor

Dr. Richard Wikoff

Abstract

The present study focused on the relationship between children's knowledge of appropriate task strategies and actual strategy use on two recall memory tasks and two tasks less demanding of memory--coding and alphabetizing. On the recall memory tasks, attention was specifically directed to the modifications of children's strategies as a function of changing task demands. The subjects consisted of 80 seven-, nine-, 11-, and 15-year olds. The children were shown two sets of pictures on cards, representing three categories, which were later to be recalled. The children were free to manipulate the pictures during all the study periods. Task demand changes included either the study time allowed (30 seconds or 2 minutes) or the number of items to be remembered (12 or 24 pictures). The coding task required that the children copy symbols that corresponded to numbers in the coding key. For the alphabetizing task, children were to put words on cards in alphabetical order within a given amount of time. The data analyses showed that children's knowledge of task relevant strategies closely paralleled their task behavior. Overall, picture recall increased with age and with the type of strategy used.

Comments

A Thesis Presented to the Department of Psychology and the Faculty of the Graduate College University of Nebraska In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts University of Nebraska at Omaha. Copyright Gail Horras May, 1982

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