Age, Memory Load, and Individual Differences in Working Memory as Determinants of Class-Inclusion Reasoning

• Published in: Journal of experimental child psychology Vol. 81; no. 2; pp. 157 - 193
• Main Authors: Rabinowitz, F.Michael, Howe, Mark L., Saunders, Kelly
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: San Diego, CA Elsevier Inc 01.02.2002; Elsevier
• Subjects: Adolescent; Age Differences; Age Factors; Attention; Biological and medical sciences; Child; Child development; Children; Class Inclusion; class-inclusion reasoning; Classification; Cognitive Development; Cognitive Processes; Concept Formation; Developmental psychology; Female; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; global resource measures; Humans; Individual Differences; Individuality; Male; mathematical modeling; Mathematical Models; Memory; Memory Load; memory/reasoning trade-off; Mental Recall; Performance Factors; Problem Solving; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychophysiology; Reaction Time; Reading; Resource Theory; Theories; Working Memory; memory/reasoning trade-off; resource theory; working memory; class-inclusion reasoning; cognitive development; mathematical modeling; global resource measures; problem solving; Human; Cognition; Experimental study; Mental load; Preadolescent; School age; Reasoning; Adolescent; Classification; Interindividual comparison; Problem solving; Cognitive development; Working memory; Mathematical model; Categorization; Child
• ISSN: 0022-0965; 1096-0457
• DOI: 10.1006/jecp.2001.2647

We studied the effects of individual differences in speak-span scores and variations in memory demands on the class-inclusion performance of 10-, 13-, and 15-year-old children. The speak-span task was an age-appropriate modification of Daneman and Carpenter's (1980) reading-span task and was considered to be a measure of global resources. The age variable was assumed to be a global index of skill development, and some of the specific skills hypothesized to be important in class-inclusion reasoning were estimated using a mathematical model. The results from both regression analyses and the mathematical model indicated that differences in age, speak span, and memory load all affected performance. Surprisingly, the effects of speak span and memory load were independent. However, the effects of each of these variables depended on the age level of the participants. Based on these findings, we argued that (a) resources vary continuously with age, (b) both skill level and global resources should be varied in developmental studies of problem solving, and (c) resource theories (e.g., Norman & Shallice, 1986) should be modified to account for developmental change.