Developmental changes in the speed and effects of acoustic and semantic encoding

Abstract

An incidental learning procedure was used with 8-, 11-, and 19-year-olds to identify processing changes that might underlie a developmental shift in feature encoding. Presentation of each of 32 words was accompanied by a question designed to induce either acoustic or semantic encoding. Tests of recall and recognition followed an intervening task. Acoustic encoding was faster than semantic encoding at all ages, but this difference decreased with age. Semantic encoding resulted in greater recall and recognition accuracy than acoustic encoding only for adults. It is argued that decreases in the difference between acoustic and semantic encoding speeds could contribute to the encoding shift effect. The retention data are interpreted as support for the notion that the encoding shift effect may also be due, in part, to memory processes other than encoding. Changes in encoding speeds and in memory processes related to retrieval are considered as complementary aspects of memory development. © 1979, Psychonomic Society, Inc.. All rights reserved.