Abstract
Free recall learning and cognitive development in children
R. Yukawa
An exploratory experiment was designed to examine the relations between memory and schemes of intelligence. Children of kindergarten and grades 2 and 4 were asked to learn the stimulus figures with a logical structure of multiplication in a free recall learning (FRL) situation with repeated trials and recall them 24 hours later (a retention test, RT), and their total recall on each trial in FRL and RT, the number of subjects with perfect recall and their recall patterns were analyzed. It was found: (a) number of items recall was greater for the list with regular order of presentation than for the list with irregular order bath in FRL and RT at any grade level; (b) each treatment group showed only a slight forgetting over 24 hours; (c) recall patterns of subjects with perfect recall matched well to patterns considered as an evidence of the intervention of multiplicative operations; (d) almost all main effects for grade level were attributable to the differences between kindergarten and grade 4 or 2. Several plausible explanations of the results were proposed in discussion.