MOTIVATIONAL INFLUENCES ON CHILDRENS STRATEGIC REMEMBERING

The present article focuses on the role of mental effort as an informa tion processing link mediating the effects of motivational factors on remembering task performance. A general model of strategy selection, i ncorporating mental effort as a mediator of the effects of motivationa l factors on strategy selection, is first discussed; this model provid es a framework for the analysis of the loci of individual and developm ental differences in memory task performance. Two experiments are then described which were designed to test predictions of the model. Exper iment 1 examined the effects of different levels of extrinsic motivati on and general academic skill on third-grade children's spontaneous us e of mnemonic strategies. Experiment 2 examined the effects of the eff ort demands of strategy use during training on strategy transfer by ad ults. The findings from the two experiments are discussed in the conte xt of the presented model of motivational influences on strategy use.