ABSTRACT
In a series of four experiments using the distractor paradigm, we compared the short-term recall of item, temporal, and spatial order information in college students and in fourth and seventh grade children. We manipulated the availability of phonetic coding by requiring subjects to say aloud either the names or the positions of the three to-be-remembered letters as they were presented. Item information was retained better than temporal or spatial information when phonetic coding was available, whereas the converse held when phonetic coding was inhibited. We conclude that item recall relies almost exclusively on phonetic coding but that the coding of temporal-spatial patterns, as well as phonetic coding, is employed in both temporal and spatial order recall. Similar effects of retention interval and serial 128position were evident for each age group, and the recall of all three types of information improved with the age of the subjects. Hence, it appears that the same coding strategies are present in children and adults but that coding efficiency increases with age.
