Investigates (1) whether the semantic processing deficit in the aged can be attributed to age differences in attentional capacity usage during encoding and (2) age differences in terms of the interaction between encoding and retrieval operations. Subjects engaged in both primary (semantic, rhyme, arithmetic questions) and secondary…

Examines evidence for the automatic processing of information about presentation modality in older adults. Younger and older adults learned a list of nouns through auditory and visual presentation modes, recalled target words, and identified the presentation modality of each word. Results suggested automatic processing for modality memory and some…

The present study employs event related potentials (ERPs) to verify the utility of using electrophysiological measures to study developmental questions within the field of language comprehension. Established ERP components (N400 and P600) that reflect semantic and syntactic processing were examined. Fifteen adults and 14 children (ages 8-13)…

Examines life-span developmental differences in spontaneous integration of semantically relevant material presented in pictures and sentences. Elementary school students, high school students, and adults were tested. (Author/SS)

Three studies used computer graphics and/or verbal questioning to examine beliefs among children and adults that vision involves input to the eyes (intromission) or emissions from the eye (extramission). Results showed decreases in extramission and increases in intromission beliefs across age. There were more extramission interpretations with…

Examined relationships among working memory, memory span, and reading skills in children and adults. Found that working memory and short-term memory skills develop through adolescence, but working memory skills show declines in adulthood. Age-related declines in memory appear to be related to the task's processing demands, which may affect the…

The effect of verbal labeling in a serial position short term memory task was investigated. Forty female college students were given 16 trials each. Eight trials involved only central items which had to be recalled. The other eight trials involved both central and incidental items. Half of the subjects verbalized the names of the central items as…

This study investigates the role of labeling in developmental increases in picture recall. In two experiments, the memory for pictorial paired-associates of first graders or second graders, fourth graders and adults was evaluated by means of a study-test cued recall procedure. In Experiment 1, the stimulus presentation duration (on-time) and the…