Jm. Plumert, FLEXIBILITY IN CHILDRENS USE OF SPATIAL AND CATEGORICAL ORGANIZATIONAL STRATEGIES IN RECALL, Developmental psychology, 30(5), 1994, pp. 738-747
Two studies investigated flexibility in children's use of spatial and
categorical clustering strategies in recall. In Study 1, 10-, 12-, 14-
, and 16-year-olds and adults recalled the furniture from their home.
Ten-year-olds organized furniture categorically, and 16-year-olds and
adults organized items spatially. Twelve- and 14-year-olds exhibited e
qual levels of spatial and categorical organization. Study 2 investiga
ted how encoding experiences and the recall task influenced the degree
of spatial and categorical organization in 10- and 12-year-olds' reca
ll. When recalling objects, 10- and 12-year-olds exhibited higher leve
ls of categorical than spatial organization. When recalling objects an
d their locations, 12-year-olds exhibited more spatial than categorica
l organization. Results are discussed in terms of age and task influen
ces on flexibility of strategy use.