The Development of Organizational Strategies in Children's Recall of Familiar Information: Using Social Organization to Recall the Names of Classmates

Abstract

1st, 3rd and 5th graders were asked to recall the names of their classmates and were later given photographs of their classmates to sort into social groups. Clustering in recall was assessed on the basis of each child's self-defined social groupings, as well as in terms of common structural groupings in the classroom (e.g., seating arrangement, reading groups) and characteristics inherent in the children (e.g., sex, race). Although levels of recall and clustering were high for all groups of children, the majority of subjects at each grade level was unable to describe accurately a strategy they had used in recalling their classmates' names. The tendency to use social groupings as a basis for organization increased with age, although children who organized retrieval by social groupings demonstrated overall lower levels of recall (5th graders) and clustering (1st, 3rd and 5th graders) than children who organized on the basis of other criteria. Examination of clustering for each half of recall suggested that most subjects did not use a single strategy throughout recall, but switched between modes of organization during the course of retrieval. It was suggested that some children may have only deliberately used a strategy after "discovering" it in the process of recall (i.e., organization at time of output).