Development: Research reports
The main findings of various academic studies into effective study strategies are listed here for easy reference. You may link to the brief summary of each report by clicking on the author (listed beneath the finding). Or go directly to the page listing these summaries: Full listing of research reports
Memory strategies in young children
Finding:
Photographs, frequently used as cues to remembering in
adults, also appear to be effective with children as young
as three.
Aschermann et al 1998
Finding: When teaching
young children learning strategies, care should be taken to
keep it simple. Simply providing instructions is preferable
than providing both instructions and a rationale.
Bjorklund et al. 1997
Finding: Working in groups
with children who understand and use memory strategies can
help children with poorer metacognitive skills increase
their understanding and strategy use.
Manion
& Alexander 1997
Finding: Intentional forgetting
is a learned skill, which children acquire gradually, and which
is not fully acquired by age 10.
Harnishfeger & Pope1996
Finding: Learning in the context
of a computer game may be more difficult for young children than
in the context of a more structured lesson. Interest is higher,
but the complexity of the game (number of distracting details)
may hinder learning.
Oyen & Bebko
1996
Event memory in young children
Finding: Parents can help their
child remember events that have happened to them by reminiscing
with them (recalling with them events that they have shared) and
encouraging them to recall details about unshared events.
Reese &
Brown 2000
Finding: Gender differences in
conversational style seem to appear at an early age. At age 8,
girls' recounting of personal experiences are already more
detailed and socially contexted than boys' narratives are.
Buckner &
Fivush 1998
Reading skills in young children
Finding: The ability of a child
to repeat back unfamiliar words is constrained by the capacity
of their working memory rather than their ability to articulate
the words. The constraining effect of working memory capacity on
the ability to learn new words continues into adolescence.
Gathercole et al. 1999
Finding: Rhyme appears to be more
confusing than other phonemic similarities and can affect how
clearly the child remembers what a heard story was about.
However recall of verbatim details does not appear to be
affected, and the susceptibility of a child to phonemic
confusion doesn't appear to affect their reading skill.
Crain-Thoreson, C. 1996
Finding: The ability of a child
to repeat back unfamiliar words is constrained by the capacity
of their working memory, and affects their ability to learn new
words, as well as the ability to comprehend what they hear or
read.
Gathercole et al. 1994
References
Aschermann, E., Dannenberg, U. & Schulz, A. 1998. Photographs as retrieval cues for children. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 12, 55-66.
Bjorklund, D.F., Miller, P.H., Coyle, T.R. & Slawinski, J.L. 1997. Instructing Children to Use Memory Strategies: Evidence of Utilization Deficiencies in Memory Training Studies. Developmental Review, 17, 411-441.
Buckner, J.P. & Fivush, R. 1998. Gender and self in children's autobiographical narratives. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 12, 407-29.
Crain-Thoreson, C. 1996. Phonemic Processes in Children's Listening and Reading Comprehension. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 10, 383-401.
Gathercole, S.E., Service, E., Hitch, G.J., Adams, A. & Martin, A.J. 1999. Phonological short-term memory and vocabulary development: furtherevidence on the nature of the relationship. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 13, 65-77.
Gathercole, S.E., Willis, C.S., Baddeley, A.D. & Emslie, H. 1994. The Children's test of Nonword Repetition: a test of phonological working memory. Memory, 2, 103-27.
Harnishfeger, K.K. & Pope, R.S.1996.Intending to Forget: The Development of Cognitive Inhibition in Directed Forgetting. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 62, 292-315.
Manion, V. & Alexander, J.M. 1997. The Benefits of Peer Collaboration on Strategy Use, Metacognitive Causal Attribution, and Recall. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 67, 268-289.
Oyen, A. & Bebko, J.M. 1996.The Effects of Computer Games and Lesson Contexts on Children's Mnemonic Strategies. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 62, 173-189.
Reese, E. & Brown N. 2000. Reminiscing and recounting in the preschool years. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 14, 1-17.
