The effects on free recall of grade level, type of transformation, and type of stimulus.

Abstract

The variables affecting the human memory and free recall have been extensively studied using adult subjects. published studies comparing adults and children are very 1imited in number. The purpose of this thesis was to determine whether there are differences between adults and children in their free recall of various forms of stimuli. It was predicted that the adult population would be able to correctly recall more stimuli than children as the result of the type of stimuli (pictures, simple words, complex words) presented, and as a result of the cognitive transformation performed on the stimuli (imagining as pictures or describing in words). One hundred and twenty subjects, sixty elementary school-age children brom Butcher Children's school and sixty undergraduate and graduate students from Emporia State University, participated in the experiment. The subjects were tested in groups of five or less. The subjects were introduced to the stimulus items and then were administered an interim control activity for two minutes. The subjects were then instructed to recall as many items as they could on a response sheet. The recall period lasted five minutes. Following the recall period, the subjects were asked to rate on a scale of one to seven their performance on the experimental tasks. The results indicated that adults recalled more stimuli than children and that picture recall was superior in comparison with complex words. The results indicate that children are not able to handle the various forms of stimuli as adults do. Children tended to concentrate on each item as a separate task rather than perceiving the experiment as a whole function.