25
Locks
Locks
Talks
Please write down all of the words you remember.
Fly
Dog
Table
Please write down all of the words you remember.
Child Memory Development
Mary Kate Murphy & Peter Popovich
Lev Vygotsky
Key Terms: Memory Aid/Memory Strategies
Recall
Visual Image
Word Representation ,
Short Term Memory
Zone of Proximal Development
Vygotsky’s Bio
(1896-1934) was born in Orsha, Belarus. While studying for a law degree at Moscow State
University, he studied a wide variety of subjects that included linguistics, sociology, and psychology.
Worked for Moscow’s Institute of Psychology in 1924 which marked the beginning of his formal work in psychology.
He died in 1934 from tuberculosis
Known for his prolific writing, Vygotsky would produce over six volumes of work in the brief period of ten years
Child development in relation to interpersonal communication and the role of culture
Higher mental functions, cultural and social interaction Ways obtain knowledge and meaning of the world-
cultural mediationTwo distinct classes of memory: natural memory and
other forms of memoryMemory aids and differences in age
Hypothesis 1: That it will be more efficient to use an image of an object rather than the word representation.
Hypothesis 2: Images will produce a stronger memory.
Hypothesis 3: Older students will be more likely to use memory aids.
Research Data Collection
Kindergarten, 4th grade and 5th grade Use of Slideshow Word Categories Timing Issues Questioning the Student
Results
Kindergarten
Rhyming Tool No Tool
PicturesWords
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
1
4th Grade
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
1
5th Grade
Rhyming Tool No Tool
PicturesWords
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
Comparing Results
Kindergarten4th
5th
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
Rhyming Tool
Images
Kindergarten 4th 5th0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
Conclusion
As Vygotsky’s theorized the 4th and 5th graders were more able to remember the words using memory aids such as images and rhyming than the Kindergarteners.
Overall, images were found to be more effective for promoting memory than word representations.
Evaluation of Study
Positive Feedback…o Allowed short testing times for large amounts of
kids, making teachers more willing to help.o Allowed testing without kids trying to confound the
research.o Open ending question allowed for interesting
feedback from students and teachers.
Confounds…• Gender Difference• Better Age Range and Representation • More Defined Groups• More Participants
