Effects of Bizarre Imagery on Children's Memory

Abstract

Two groups of preschool children (younger, 42.07 months; older, 55.29 months) were compared on their ability to recall Normal, Low Bizarre, and Highly Bizarre line-drawn interactive pictures of object pairs. The objects were first presented individually, then in an interaction condition (e.g., Normal condition, matches lighting a pipe; Low Bizarre condition, a pipe in a frying pan; High Bizarre condition, a fish smoking a pipe). The children were then told that one object (the stimulus member of the pair) would be presented and that they would later be asked to recall the object (the response member of the Pair) that went with it. The older children performed equally well on this paired-associate learning task in all three conditions. In contrast, the younger children had significantly fewer recalls for the response objects in the Low and High Bizarre conditions.