Problems and Prospects in Comparative Studies of Memory

Abstract

Several approaches to the study of human memory, including ontogenetic, cultural/sociohistorical, and clinical research, are reviewed and synthesized in the broad framework of comparative cognition. Similar trends in the acquisition and control of memory strategies as a function of age, schooling, and cultural experiences reveal the adaptive nature of memory development. The comparative approach illustrates how memory demands of the environment and the individual’s understanding of memory strategies, tasks, and variables interact to promote the development of effective memory skills. Traditional research demonstrations of between-group differences in strategy use or metamemory are criticized as inadequate. Future research on comparative memory development must focus on the flexible and adaptive use of memory skills to meet purposes prescribed by varying contexts.

Metamemorial knowledge in a group of black South African school children

“…It seems as if differences of instructional method and ethos might account for the slower appearance of strategic knowledge in these Zulu children, as compared to the children studied by Kreutzer et al Cultural characteristics might also have been implicated, as other research suggests. Wagner and Paris (1981) argued that it is in the development of the knowledge and deliberate use of effortful strategies that the influence of culture-specific factors are most evident, and that underlying basic memory competence or ability to remember are more uniform in their appearance across cultures. It would be necessary to consider the nature of the cultural differences that might be associated with the metamemorial profile exhibited by the Zulu children of the present study.…”