The spontaneous use of memory aids at different educational levels
✍ Scribed by María José Soler; Juan Carlos Ruiz
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 1996
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 678 KB
- Volume
- 10
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0888-4080
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
Three groups of students in different educational levels: 8th-9th grade students (average age 15); 10th-11th grade students (average age 16); and college students (average age 21), completed a metamemory questionnaire on the use of external, general, and formal memory aids in everyday life and study situations. Short-term repetition, mental rehearsing, and summary elaboration were the most frequent aids. The least frequently used were those that require a special training to be used effectively (e.g. Digit-letters and method of loci). There were differences in the use of general memory aids due to education level, but not in the case of external and formal memory aids. Results showed also that women used memory aids more frequently than men.
In the last few years psychology has become increasingly concerned with the study of the practical aspects of memory and, more specifically, with the study of memory aids. Memory aids are a wide group of strategies used to improve memory. Several recent studies divided memory aids into two major categories: external and internal aids (e.g. Harris, 1980;Intons-Peterson and Fournier, 1986;Park, Smith, and Cavanaugh, 1990). External aids involve the use of tangible, physical aids which are external to the person (e.g. taking notes, or making lists). Internal aids are 'formal mnemonic strategies that require training to use' (Intons-Peterson and Fournier, 1986) (e.g. loci, digit-letters, story method). There are also other categories of memory aids which are cited in the literature: general internal strategies (Harris