A free-recall task was tachistoscopically administered to 124 children belonging to four different age levels. Nursery and kindergarten children's recalls were more closely related to clustering measures than those of seventh graders. Older children's recalls did not vary as a function of clustering in their recall. While younger children seem to rely heavily on E's imposed organization, older children seem to utilize divergent modes of processing of information. Such a developmental change provides an explanation for the conflicting findings reported in free-recall studies.
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