Abstract
Objectives: Attention switching during the processing episodes to briefly reactivate decaying memory traces is a key factor affecting children’s recall performance. Previous studies suggested that children younger than 7 years old’s switching between processing and storage was stimuli-driven as described by the task-switching model whereas children older than 7 years old’s pattern of performance reflected the micro-level switching described by the time-based resource-sharing (TBRS) model. The current study further investigated whether the working memory retention mechanism of young children changes qualitatively with age when both nonverbal IQ and listening comprehension were carefully controlled for within each age group.
Design: A 3 (children aged 4, 5, and 7 years) x 3 (colour-naming tasks: one-colour-short, two-colour-short, and two-colour-long) between subjects factorial design was used. The dependent variable was verbal working memory span.
Methods: Forty-five children aged 4 (M = 55.4 months, SD = 2.84), 45 children aged 5 (M = 63.6 months, SD = 3.01), and 45 children aged 7 (M = 88.1 months, SD = 3.41) participated. Each age group was further divided into 3 subgroups, matching for their nonverbal IQ and listening comprehension score. Each subgroup was then randomly assigned to one of three colour-naming tasks that differed in either the duration or the attentional demand of the processing episodes used by Camos and Barrouillet (2011).
Results: Data collection is in progress.
Conclusion: This study aimed to clarify important theoretical issues regarding the interference effect of processing episodes, and to further our understanding of young children’s working memory retention mechanism.