Developmental Studies of Mediated Memory

This chapter summarizes five developmental studies of mediational and, especially, production deficiencies with respect to children's performance on memory tasks and suggests that developmental intermediaries (production inefficiencies) between nonproduction and efficient production are probably the rule rather than the exception.

Abstract

This chapter summarizes five developmental studies of mediational and, especially, production deficiencies with respect to children's performance on memory tasks. Some generalizations about the nature and development of mediational activity and related topics have been proposed and recent studies dealing with the development of mnemonic-mediational skills in children have been reported and interpreted—for example, verbal rehearsal. There are many different types of mnemonic-mediational activities, even within a single system of symbolic representation such as the verbal one. Mnemonic mediation is best conceived as a planful, instrumental, cognitive act, akin to problem-solving behavior. The developmental course of acquisition of any given mnemonic mediator typically consists of an age-dependent increase in the likelihood of its spontaneous occurrence in appropriate recall situations, rather than an age-dependent increase in the likelihood that, given its occurrence, it will mediate recall effectively. Mediator production is not an all or nothing affair; however, developmental intermediaries (production inefficiencies) between nonproduction and efficient production are probably the rule rather than the exception.