Short-Term Memory for Shape Information Processed Intra- and Intermodally at Three Ages

Abstract

2 experiments are reported in which the effects of intra- and intermodal information acquisition and memory for shape are studied. Exp. I examined the relative performance of children (8 yr.) across 4 groups involving different modality combinations. Results were compared with earlier findings for an adult sample, and the pattern of relative retention across groups was similar for children and adults. Intramodal visual retention was best, whereas intramodal haptic and both types of intermodal retention proved similarly effective. Using simpler shapes, Exp. 11 compared four similar groups with a sample of 5-yr.-olds. The pattern of results was largely similar to that obtained for older samples. As a whole, findings did not support the view of superior retention under intramodal acquisition and retention.