Date of Award
3-1999
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Department
Psychology
First Advisor
Bridget Ryalls
Second Advisor
Joseph C. LaVoie
Third Advisor
Thomas Lorsbach
Abstract
The purpose of the present study was to investigate Hasher and Zacks' (1979,1984) automaticity theory of memory for spatial location information in young children using two incidental memory tasks. A total of 96 three- and fiveyear- olds (48 boys and 48 girls) were randomly assigned to either the "manipulation condition" (MC) or the "observation condition" (OC). In order to assess task difficulty, half of the participants manipulated a total of 18 genderstereotyped animal toys (male, female, neutral) and half of the participants a total of 9. After a 2 minute filler task, the participants were instructed to return the animals into their original spaces. Analyses of variance indicated a main effect of age, task difficulty, and gender-stereotype of the animals. Timing of reconstruction, strategy usage as well as implications for the automaticity theory are discussed.
Recommended Citation
Cherney, Isabelle D., "Incidental memory for spatial information in young children as a function of age and gender" (1999). Student Work. 284.
https://digitalcommons.unomaha.edu/studentwork/284