Effects of Age and Stimulus Presentation Rate on Immediate and Delayed Recall in

Children
Author(s): Gary S. Sarver, Ann Howland and Timothy McManus
Source: Child Development, Vol. 47, No. 2 (Jun., 1976), pp. 452-458
Published by: Wiley on behalf of the Society for Research in Child Development
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Effects of Age and Stimulus Presentation Rate on
Immediate and Delayed Recall in Children

Gary S. Sarver
Ohio University

Ann Howland

Clinical Services for Athens, Hocking, and Vinton Counties

Timothy McManus
Ohio University

SARVER, GARY S.; HOWLAND, ANN; and MCMANUs, TIMOTHY. Effects of Age and Stimulus Presentation
Rate on Immediate and Delayed Recall in Children. CHILD DEVELOPMENT, 1976, 47, 452-458. The
present study was designed to investigate the effects of stimulus presentation rate on recall and primacy-
recency effects in children. A modification of the Digit Span task used in the Binet and Wechsler Intelli-
gence Scales provided the basic memory task administered to 36 male schoolchildren in first, third, and
fifth grades, The specific design required children to recall verbally serial strings of digits presented at
various stimulus presentation rates. It was assumed that effective recall would be a function of general
maturation and/or the development of cognitive strategies, and rate of stimulus presentation. Age, rate,
and age x rate x recall condition (short or long term) were all significantly related to the number of digits
correctly recalled. Results indicated that the traditional interpretation of the primacy effect as reflecting
long-term memory store may not be valid.

In the present study we attempted to deter-
mine what main and interactional effects variable
input rates and age differences have on the im-
mediate and delayed recall of auditorially pre-
sented serial digits and serial position curves. It
was also expected that these results would offer
differential support for either the "dual-memory"
or "levels of processing" models of memory.
tion into long-term store. The' developmental lit-
erature provides consistent support for the propo-
sition that as children mature they become more
efficient in using mediational strategies (e.g., re-
hearsal, elaborative encoding), which aid the
transfer of information from short- to long-term
store (Belmont & Butterfield 1969; Flavell 1970;
Flavell, Friedrichs, & Hoyt 1970).

Generally, with the exception of some Rus-
sian investigators (e.g., Smirnov & Zinchenko
1969), developmental investigations of memory
have adhered to the dual-storage model (e.g.,
Belmont & Butterfield 1969; Frank & Rabinovitch
1974). This model maintains that information first
registers in short-term store. It can then either
remain in short-term store for retrieval or it can be
transferred to long-term store. It is believed that
there is a dynamic difference between these two
storage systems in that different variables can have
selective effects on either short-term or long-term
recall.
Competent memory abilities in children ap-
parently rest upon their increasing ability to con-
trol more productively the encoding of informa-
Empirical evidence to support this dual-
memory model has come from observations of dif-
ferential effects of drugs on short- and long-term
memory (McGaugh 1970; Milner 1970); differen-
tial effects of bilateral hippocampectomies (see re-
view by Deutsch 1969; Milner 1970); and differen-
tial forgetting rates (Wickelgren 1972). However,
the bulk of the support is derived from examina-
tions of the primacy-recency effect. Traditionally,
initial items of a serial list are thought to be re-
called from long-term store. Interpolated tasks fol-
lowing the presentation of a serial list depress the
terminal portions of the serial list while having
only slight effects upon the initial portions (Bartz
& Salehi 1970; Glanzer & Cunitz 1966). Slower
rates of presentation, which would presumably
facilitate rehearsal, have been shown to increase

The authors would like to express their appreciation to Jim Mason, Clyde Jarvis, and John Gordon,
their staff, and the Athens City School System for their cooperation. Send requests for reprints to Gary S.
Sarver, Department of Psychology, Porter Hall, Ohio University, Athens, Ohio 45701.
[Child Development, 1976, 47, 452-458. @ 1976 by the Society for Research in Child Development, Inc. All rights reserved.]

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recall from the initial and medial portions of the
list while having little effect on the terminal sec-
tions (Glanzer & Cunitz 1966).
Analyses of developmental primacy-recency
effects generally tend to support the conclusions
reached in the adult literature (e.g., Belmont &
Butterfield 1969; Frank & Rabinovitch 1974).
However, while adult investigators generally are
systematic in separating short- and long-term re-
tention operationally using an interpolated task
(e.g., Peterson & Peterson 1959), the develop-
mental investigators are not so systematic.
The dual-storage advocates have not been
without their critics. Recently, Wickelgren (1973)
hypothesized that differences between short- and
long-term recall traces may actually reflect the
separate functioning of different encoding modal-
ities (e.g., rapidly decaying phonetic component
vs. slowly decaying semantic component) which
occur at different temporal places on the same
continuum. Indeed, recent neuropsychological
investigations have revealed that information may
be processed differentially by the two cerebral
hemispheres. Generally, there is a left hemi-
sphere preference for verbal material and a right
ear preference for nonverbal material in children
(Bakker 1970).
Manipulation of stimulus presentation rates
produces yet more complex results; changes in ear
preferences have been observed as a function of
stimulus presentation rate. Rapidly presented
verbal stimuli may be processed acoustically (e.g.,
pitch, tempo, other physical characteristics) by the
right hemisphere, while slowly presented verbal
stimuli may be processed semantically by the left
hemisphere (Sarver, Howland, & Brodsky, Note
1). Therefore, presentation rate may influence
which mode of processing is used predominantly.
This differential hemispheric processing of
information position is in accordance with the
theoretical position of Craik and Lockhart (1972),
who view memory as a continuum which varies
according to the depth of processing of incoming
information-superficial processing of physical
characteristics versus deeper and more lasting
processing of a semantic nature.
It would appear that presentation rate may
have many important effects upon memory func-
tioning. Slow rates of stimulus presentation would
be expected to facilitate semantic encoding and
the use of mediational strategies; there should be
significant age-related differences in recall.
Analyses of serial position curves should reveal
age-related increases in the primacy effect for
long-term recall. However, if the dual-storage posi-
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Sarver, Howland, and McManus 453
tion is correct there should not be any systematic
age-related primacy effects at rapid stimulus pre-
sentation rates. Presumably, the rapid rate of
stimulus presentation would preclude the use of a
time-consuming mediational strategy.
Aside from the effects that stimulus presenta-
tion rate may have on the primacy-recency phe-
nomenon, varying the presentation rate may also
permit a simpler and less obtrusive paradigm for
manipulating encoding strategies. Studies of
mediational strategies in children have employed
paradigms using either mixed modes (i.e., visual
and auditory) or fixed rates of stimulus presenta-
tion (e.g., Frank & Rabinovitch 1974). Although
Frank and Rabinovitch did use running memory-
span lists in order to minimize rehearsal, their re-
sults may have been biased by the instructions to
the subjects which required them to report only
the last items on the lists. Indeed, recent inves-
tigators of adult samples have found that different
instructions and subject expectancies can differen-
tially effect recall (Jacoby & Bartz 1972). Simple
variation of the stimulus presentation rate may
provide a less obtrusive manner in which to ma-
nipulate the use of mediational strategies by the
subjects. That is, as a dual-trace theorist might
predict, at rapid rates of stimulus presentation,
the possibility of using mediational strategies is
reduced. Conversely, at slow rates of stimulus
presentation, the possibility of using mediational
strategies is increased.
Method
Subjects. -The subjects were 36 male school-
children, 12 each from grades 1, 3, and 5. All chil-
dren had IQ scores (as determined by the Cattell
Culture Fair Intelligence Scale) within the normal
range (mean IQs and standard deviations for
grades 1, 3, and 5, respectively: 109.7, 6.3; 114.2,
7.1; 108.9, 8.3).
Stimuli. -The stimuli were successive strings
of serial digits contained in lists of one to nine
digits. The subjects received two successive trials
at each list length. Each succeeding level of serial
digit length contained one more digit than the
preceding level (up to a maximum of nine).
The serial lists were formed from a random
number table with the following constraints: (a)
zero was not used; (b) there were no replications of
digits within any one trial; and (c) obvious runs of
digits were excluded.
Digits were presented via headphones from
recorded tape. Digits were recorded on a reel-to-
loop dub mechanism at a constant 70 db; word
454 Child Development
length was held constant at 250 ? 15 msec. Five
different tapes were programmed using different
interdigit intervals of 50, 1,050, 2,050, 3,050, and
4,050 msec. The score was the highest number of
correctly recalled digits. Serial position was scored
as follows: A digit at a given serial position was
scored correct if (a) it was in the correct placement
in the list, or (b) it was part of a correct sequence of
two or more digits.
Procedure. -Subjects received a random pre-
sentation of treatment conditions such that each
subject received all five treatments although in
different orders. Each subject was instructed to
listen carefully because the experimenter was
going to ask him to tell all the numbers he heard. In
order not to bias responses, each subject was sim-
ply asked to recall. He was not asked either to
recall in order or to recall in any order, simply to
recall. Inspection of the data revealed that all chil-
dren chose to recall the digits in the order in
which they were presented. Following each trial,
the subject was asked to recall the digits im-
mediately. This provided the short-term recall
score. Then, the subjects received a "20-sec in-
terpolated task" in the form of phrase shadowing.
Such a procedure has been demonstrated to inter-
fere with short-term store (Peterson & Peterson
1959). Following this 20-sec task, the subject was
again asked to recall the digits. It was assumed
that recall obtained at this point reflected long-
term store.
Results
The data were subjected to a grade x recall
condition (short term vs. long term) x interdigit
7 r FIRST GRADE
m 6 0 I THIRD GRADE IMMEDIATE
STHIRD GRADE
J 5 O FIFTH GRADE IMMEDIATE
-L 0 FIFTH GRADE
w 0 -
Q: QU---.
3 A
eOle
< O
I I I I
50 1050 2050 3050 4050
INTER- DIGIT INTERVAL
(in milliseconds)
FIG. 1.-Mean digit recall as a function of grade, rate of presentation, and recall condition
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interval (50, 1,050, 2,050, 3,050, 4,050 msec)
analysis of variance, with repeated measures on
the last two factors. Only F and t ratios reaching
< .05 significance will be cited.
The main effect of grade was significant,
F(2,33) = 24.76, p < .001. The mean number of
digits recalled increased from 3.47 to 5.10 across
grades. The main effect of recall condition was also
significant, F(1,33) = 168.00, p < .001.
The main effect of interdigit interval was sig-
nificant, F(4,132) = 3.78, p < .01. Recall was es-
sentially equal for the 50-, 1,050-, 2,050-, and
3,050-msec conditions (respective means: 4.08,
4.15, 4.13, 4.19); however, there was a significant
increase in recall from the 3,050- to the 4,050-
msec condition (mean = 4.71).
Of primary importance to the present study is
the grade x interdigit interval interaction. Sur-
prisingly, this interaction was not significant.
Older children did not recall more digits than
younger children as a function of longer interdigit
intervals. However, the grade x interdigit inter-
val x recall condition interaction was significant,
F(8,132) = 2.16, p < .05. Older children did recall
more digits than younger children as the interdigit
interval became longer, but only in the delayed,
not the immediate, recall condition. This grade x
recall condition x interdigit interval is displayed
in figure 1. The immediate recall scores remain
unsystematically influenced by the lengthening in-
terdigit intervals. A priori comparisons of the 50-
and 4,050-msec immediate recall conditions for
each grade were not significant. Short-term digit
recall was essentially unchanged as a function of
IMMEDIATE
A FIRST GRADE DELAYED
DELAYED
DELAYED
I
 Sarver, Howland, and McManus 455

.J KEY
J. 100
x
w901 90 FIFTH GRAOD
O THIRD GRADE
so x 0 FIRST GRADE

70 ~ -xs o x
0 50-

u 30
w 20

I0

I I I l
S I 2 3 4 5 6 7
SERIAL DIGIT POSITION
FIG. 2.-Serial position recall at the seven-digit length for 4,050-msec short-term recall condition by grade

stimulus presentation rate within each grade.
Similarly, a priori comparison of the 50- and
4,050-msec long-term recall conditions for the first
grade was also not significant. However, there was
a significant difference between long-term recall
for the 50- and 4,050-msec conditions for the third
and fifth graders (grade 3: t(144) = 2.34, p < .05;
grade 5: t(144) = 4.04, p < .001).
Figures 2 and 3 display the serial position
clear age-related primacy effect only. Traditionally
this would be interpreted as indicating the opera-
tion of age-related mediational strategies and im-
proved long-term recall. The significant grade x
interdigit interval x recall condition interaction
would support this conclusion. That is, older chil-
dren with more sophisticated mediational strate-
gies showed greater long-term recall than young-
er children as the presentation rates became slow-
er.

curves for each grade's 4,050-msec delayed and

immediate recall at the seven-digit length. Im- Figures 4 and 5 display the serial position
mediate recall demonstrates a general primacy curves for 50-msec immediate and delayed recall
and recency effect for all grades. However, inspec- for each grade. Again, a grade-related primacy ef-
tion of the delayed recall curves demonstrates a fect is easily observed in the immediate recall

I10oo KEY
94c x FIFTH GRADE
8 VO0 THIRD GRADE 3O FIRST GRADE
70

Su40
% 30 x
0 20x

I 2 3 4 5 6 7
SERIAL POSITION
FIG. 3.-Serial position recall at the seven-digit length for 4,050-msec long-term recall condition by grade

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456 Child Development

j 100 KEY
w xo 90 xFIFHR GRADE

m 70
V 60

SI 20D

I 2 3 4 5 6 7
SERIAL DIGIT POSITION
FIG. 4.-Serial position recall at the seven-digit length for the 50-msec short-term recall condition by grade

condition. However, given the rapid speed of
stimuli presentation, it would seem unlikely that
this age-related primacy effect could be attributed
to developmental changes in mediational abilities.
This systematic age-related primacy effect disap-
pears with long-term recall (fig. 5).
Discussion
This study supports conclusions generally ar-
rived at in developmental investigations of mem-
ory, and reveals some theoretical lacunae.
lus presentation, has demonstrated that older
children differ from younger children in their
long-term recall ability but not in short-term re-
call. It is also reasonable to conclude that a media-
tional strategy may have been involved in the
transfer of information from short- to long-term
store and that it functioned more effectively when
the stimuli were presented more slowly. Media-
tion appears to occur spontaneously when condi-
tions facilitate its occurrence. Furthermore, this
paradigm can elicit the age-related effects in a rel-
atively unobtrusive manner.

First, delayed or long-term recall is affected Second, analysis of serial position curves for
significantly by age and rate of stimuli presenta- 4,050-msec immediate and delayed recall (fi s. 2
tion. This study, using only variable rates of stimu- and 3, respectively) reveals the expected (Frank &

w
o100
90 x
KEY
FIFTH GRADE

90 O THIRD GRADE
0 FIRST GRADE

c:8 70
j60"m
9 x

c 40
z % 30 -

u10

I 2 3 4 5 6 7
SERIAL POSITION
FIc. 5.-Serial position recall at the seven-digit length for the 50-msec long-term recall condition by grade

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Rabinovitch 1974; Glanzer & Cunitz 1966) age-
related primacy effect. As in the adult literature
(Glanzer & Cunitz 1966), the interpolated tasks
depress the recency effect (figs. 2 and 3). Older
children, using mediational strategies, demon-
strate a more robust primacy effect (figs. 2 and 3).
Presumably, primacy items are recalled from
long-term memory; older children having more ef-
fective mediational strategies have superior long-
term recall and hence superior primacy effects
(Belmont & Butterfield 1969; Flavell et al. 1970).
However, as figure 4 indicates, there is also
an age-related primacy effect for 50-msec im-
mediate recall. It is not reasonable to expect such
a systematic age-related effect to be due also to the
use of mediational strategies: the speed of digit
presentation should obviate their use. Neither is it
due to differential discrimination abilities: inspec-
tion of the data revealed similar recall curves for
first graders in both the 50- and 4,050-msec condi-
tions.
Dual-memory theories cannot adequately ex-
plain this finding. However, if we employ a con-
tinuum position (e.g., Craik & Lockhart 1972) in
combination with our understanding of differential
hemispheric information processing, a possible
explanation emerges. At rapid rates of stimulus
presentation, verbal information processing is
predominantly acoustical, or based on physical
properties of the stimulus. Age-related central
nervous system maturation allows for a larger ab-
solute acoustical storage in older children. In
younger children new items displace previous
items and hence depress primacy effects. Al-
though some acoustical information can be reana-
lyzed into semantic long-term store (fig. 5), it is
essentially transitory. Conversely, at slow rates of
digit presentation, semantic processing yields ex-
pected age-related mediational effects and pri-
macy effects.
Essentially, what is being proposed is that the
individual not be treated as a homogeneous pro-
cessing unit. Hemispheric differences in informa-
tion processing are known to exist. Memory pro-
cessing may be a time-dependent process: at slow
rates of stimulus presentation cognitive matura-
tion (i.e., semantic sophistication) yields dual-
storage effects. At rapid rates central nervous sys-
tem maturation may be the most important vari-
able.
In any event, it would appear fruitful to
further explore hemispheric effects in more con-
trolled studies. Paradigms using ear x presenta-
tion rate x age x recall condition designs might
provide some interesting observations.
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Sarver, Howland, and McManus 457
In conclusion, variable rates of stimulus pre-
sentation do have a significant effect on recall.
Slow rates of stimulus presentation demonstrate
significant age-related increases in long-term re-
call and primacy effects. However, rapid rates of
stimuli presentation also produce primacy effects
which the dual-memory model has difficulty ex-
plaining. A possible theoretical explanation, using
differential hemispheric processing and a con-
tinuum position, was put forward.
Reference Note
1. Sarver, G. S.; Howland, A.; & Brodsky, N. Differen-
tial hemispheric processing in the immediate and
delayed recall of digits. Paper presented at the meet-
ing of the American Psychological Association,
Chicago, August 1975.
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