The Development of Semantic Memory: The Role of Memory Strategies and Metacognition
Claudia Maria Roebers · Psychology Press eBooks · 2022
Research on the development of children&s;s semantic memory has a long tradition, going back to the early 19th century when Brunswick documented continuous, if not linear improvements in children&s;s ability to encode, store and later recall arbitrary semantic information. At the beginning of the planned chapter, therefore, a brief overview of the most classical studies describing developmental improvements in children&s;s semantic memory will be provided. This section will be followed by a review of the most prominent findings concerning the influence of children&s;s knowledge base when recalling semantic information. The main parts of the chapter will consist of a contemporary perspective on two major factors fueling children&s;s growing ability to remember semantic information: memory strategies and metacognition. When addressing children&s;s growing ability to flexibly use memory strategies, special emphasis will be laid on the difficulties that have to be overcome before strategies use benefits children&s;s memory performance. The focus on metacognitive development will include a description of newly developed methods to study young children&s;s emerging, yet rudimentary skills to introspect on their memory processes and regulate memory behavior revealing astonishing metacognitive skills even in toddlers.