Chronological Age and Length of Delay as Determinants of Delayed Matching-to-Sample and Oddity Performance in Children

Abstract

The effects of length of delay and chronological age on children's delayed matching-to-sample and oddity performance were investigated in two separate experiments. In the first experiment, 112 children, 70 to 80 mo. in age, were trained on either a matching or oddity task which was either simultaneous or involved a delay of 0, 6, or 14 sec. In the second experiment, a 6-sec. delayed matching or oddity task was used to investigate the performance of 84 children divided equally into 70–80 mo., 90–100 mo., and 125–135 mo. age groups. Accuracy of performance under both the matching and oddity tasks decreased with increases in delay value, and increased with increasing chronological age However, matching performance was superior to oddity for all delay values and chronological age groups studied.