Age differences in recall of categorized material: organization or retrieval?

Overview

The independent and combined influences of organizational versus retrieval processes on age differences in recall of categorized materials were examined. Five-year-olds, 8-year-olds, and adults were tested for recall of 15 pictures from three categories under four different conditions: 1. Blocked presentation-constrained recall, in which pictures were grouped by category at presentation and Ss were constrained to recall the items by category; 2. Blocked presentation-free recall, where pictures were presented in category groups but Ss recalled items without constraints; 3. Random presentation-constrained recall, in which pictures were presented randomly, but Ss were constrained to recall by category; 4. Random presentation-free recall, where pictures were presented randomly and no retrieval constraints were imposed. Results indicated that blocked presentation improved recall performance uniformly across age. In contrast, constrained recall instructions enhanced performance of 5-year-olds more than performance of older Ss. Adults benefited from blocked presentation combined with constrained recall more than either group of children. The pattern of findings suggested that retrieval operations were relatively more important in accounting for age differences in recall of categorical material than organization at presentation.