The relation between age and rate of forgetting was investigated with a task that
eliminated differences in level of initial learning. Three-, four-, and
six-year-olds were shown 40 pictures, then were tested for their recognition of 20
pictures immediately, followed by a recognition test of all pictures 24 hours later.
Rate of forgetting was nearly identical in every age group. The results are
discussed in terms of the interference theory of forgetting and hypotheses about the
relation of forgetting to neurological maturation.
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