Children's Strategies for Gathering Information in Three Tasks

Miller, Patricia H.; Haynes, Vernon F.; DeMarie-Dreblow, Darlene; Woody-Ramsey, Janet

doi:10.2307/1130421

Cited by 36 publications

(6 citation statements)

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“…It has been investigated most frequently in the area of memory development; although it is a relatively recent discovery, partial or strong evidence of utilization deficiencies has been found in over 90% of developmental studies involving spontaneous strategy implementation (see Miller & Seier, 1994) and in more than half of memory training studies (see Bjorklund, Miller, Coyle, & Slawinski, in press) published over the past 20 years. Utilization deficiencies are not limited to the use of memory strategies but have been found for strategies of selective attention (e.g., Miller, Haynes, DeMarie-Dreblow, & Woody-Ramsey, 1986), reading (e.g., Gaultney, 1995), and analogical reasoning (e.g., Muir-Broaddus, 1995), among others (see Bjorklund & Coyle, 1995;Miller, 1994;and Miller & Seier, 1994, for reviews). It is precisely when children demonstrate utilization deficiencies that poor metacognition may facilitate rather than hinder performance.…”

Section: Metacognitionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The role of immaturity in human development.

Bjorklund¹

1997

Psychological Bulletin

316

186

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The possibility that infants' and young children's immature behaviors and cognitions are sometimes adaptive is explored and interpreted in terms of evolutionary theory. It is argued that developmental immaturity had an adaptive role in evolution and continues to have an adaptive role in human development. The role of developmental retardation in human evolution is discussed, followed by an examination of the relation between humans' extended childhood and brain plasticity. Behavioral neoteny, as exemplified by play, is examined, as are some potentially adaptive aspects of infants' perception and cognition that limit the amount of information they can process. Aspects of immature cognition during early childhood that may have some contemporaneous adaptive value are also discussed. It is proposed that viewing immaturity as sometimes adaptive to the developing child alters how children and their development are viewed.Nature wants children to be children before they are men. If we deliberately depart from this order, we shall get premature fruits which are neither ripe nor well flavored and which soon decay. We shall have youthful sages and grown up children. Childhood has ways of seeing, thinking, and feeling, peculiar to itself; nothing can be more foolish than to substitute our ways for them.-Jean Jacques RousseauPeople understandably tend to see development as being progressive: from immature and inefficient structures and functions to mature and efficient ones. Early, immature forms are seen as "unfinished" and incomplete versions of the adult; the child is a "work in progress." From this viewpoint, immaturity is a necessary evil, something that people must get through on their way to adulthood, where the "real show of humanity emerges on stage" (L. Thomas, 1993, p. 175). This is not an unreasonable view. A prolonged period of youth is necessary for humans. Humans, more than any other species, must survive by their wits; human communities are more complex and diverse than those of any other species, and this requires that they have not only a flexible intelligence to learn the conventions of their societies but also a long time to learn them. But the species's physical and cognitive development need not progress synchronously. Their prolonged bodily development could in theory be accompanied by rapid cognitive and social development. This would result in a physically dependent child who has the intellectual and social wherewithal to master the ways of the world.Portions of this article were presented at

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Section: Metacognitionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The role of immaturity in human development.

Bjorklund¹

1997

Psychological Bulletin

316

186

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“…The apparatus and task have been used in previous research (e.g. Miller, 1990;Miller et al, 1986). Line drawings (each approximately 4cm in diameter) that could be examined were inside an aluminum box (63 6 25 6 10cm) placed on a table in front of the child.…”

Section: Materials and Proceduresmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This ability develops gradually during the preschool and elementary school years (e.g. Miller, 1990;Miller et al, 1986;Woody-Ramsey & Miller, 1988).…”

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confidence: 99%

Children's individual differences in capacity: Effects on strategy production and utilization

Woody-Dorning

Miller

2001

British J of Dev Psycho

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One issue concerning strategy development is whether the same causes underlie the development of strategy production and strategy effectiveness (benefit for recall). This research examined the role of individual differences in memory capacity in the production and effectiveness of a selective processing strategy. Kindergartners and first graders (N = 84) chose, by opening doors, certain objects to view from a set of objects during a study period. The most appropriate strategy was a selective one ‐ viewing only the objects to be recalled. Individual differences in capacity were assessed by five measures of memory span. Several measures of capacity predicted recall overall or strategy effectiveness, but none were related to strategy production. The fact that digit span predicted recall for strategic children, but not non‐strategic children, suggests that those strategic children who have a relatively large capacity can engage in additional mnemonic activities that increase recall.

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“…Children who show a utilization deficiency will spontaneously generate a strategy but may not gain any performance benefit from it, demonstrate less benefit than that shown by older children, or may even experience a decline in performance. Several experiments have demonstrated utilization deficiencies in preschool children (e.g., Baker-Ward, Ornstein, & Holden, 1984;De-Marie-Dreblow & Miller, 1988;Miller & Harris, 1988;Miller, Haynes, DeMarie-Dreblow, & Woody-Ramsey, 1986), and one recent study has reported a utilization deficiency in third-grade children for a spontaneously generated organizational memory strategy in a free-recall task (Bjorklund, Coyle, & Gaultney, 1992; see also Masur, Mclntyre, & Flavell, 1973, who reported no benefit from the use of a selective study strategy for 9-year-olds). In the present study, we examined changes in children's strategy use, as reflected by patterns of sorting and clustering, and related them to changes in recall, looking for evidence of a utilization deficiency.…”

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confidence: 99%

Training and Extension of a Memory Strategy: Evidence for Utilization Deficiencies in the Acquisition of an Organizational Strategy in High- and Low-IQ Children

et al. 1994

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Training and Extension of a Memory Strategy: Evidence for Utilization Deficiencies in the Acquisition of an Organizational Strategy in High-and Low-IQ Children. CHILD DEVELOPMENT, 1994, 65, 95J-965. 143 9-and 10-year-oId children were classified into high-and Jow-IQ groups and given 4 different sort/recall lists (baseline, training, near [immediate] extension, far [l-week] extension) to assess training and extension of an organizational memory strategy. All children received categorized items of moderate typicality for Phases 1, 3, and 4. For Phase 2, children were assigned to either a training or control group, with half of the children in each group receiving category typical items and the others category atypical items. Levels of recall, sorting, and clustering were greater in Phase 2 for high-IQ children, for the typical lists, and for trained children. Both the high-and low-IQ children trained with typical items continued to show high levels of recall on the near extension phase. No group of subjects maintained high levels of recall after 1 week, although levels of sorting and/or clustering on the extension trials remained high for all groups of subjects except the low-IQ control children. This latter pattern (elevated sorting/clustering with low levels of recall) is an indication of a utilization deficiency, a phase in strategy development when children use a strategy but gain little or no benefit in performance. The results provide evidence for IQ, training, and material effects in the demonstration of a utilization deficiency.

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Children's Strategies for Gathering Information in Three Tasks

Cited by 36 publications

References 0 publications

The role of immaturity in human development.

The role of immaturity in human development.

Children's individual differences in capacity: Effects on strategy production and utilization

Training and Extension of a Memory Strategy: Evidence for Utilization Deficiencies in the Acquisition of an Organizational Strategy in High- and Low-IQ Children

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