The development of retrieval strategies in young children

Abstract

Two incidental memory tasks were given to 3.5–6.5 yr old children to test for an age increase in the tendency to use a simple indirect retrieval strategy when direct retrieval efforts do not suffice. In both tasks, pictures of people were paired with very closely associated toy objects (e.g., farmer—toy tractor), and the indirect retrieval strategy consisted of thinking to use one member of the pair as a cue to the recall of the other, e.g., turning over the visible but facedown pictures and using them as retrieval cues for the toys. Support for the predicted age trend was obtained in one of the two tasks. It was suggested that the development of retrieval skills in children may show some parallels with that of storage skills.