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

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.