The development of organizational strategies in the storage and retrieval of categorical items in free-recall learning.

The present study examined the relative effectiveness of organization strategy use at study versus test in a single-trial, free-recall learning task, 90 subjects from each of 3 grade levels (second vs. sixth vs, college) were presented with 36 pictures selected equally from 6 different taxonomic categories. 3 levels of organizational strategy use were factorially crossed during study and test: Categorical cues were either (a) absent, (b) available, or (c) imposed. Developmental increases in performance were observed for the dependent measures of correct recall, study-trial organization, test-trial organization, frequency of cue use, and self-reported study activities. Generally speaking, imposed organization at study attenuated age differences in correct recall performance and study-trial organization, whereas imposed organization at test served to attenuate age differences in verbal clustering. Performance in the available cue condition at study or test was indistinguishable from performance in the control condition (i.e., cues absent). The results from the present study are generally consistent with previous assessments of organizational effects and provide new evidence concerning their independent and additive functions at study and test in developmental free-recall performance.