ERIC Number: EJ957847
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2012-Apr
Pages: 14
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0022-0965
EISSN: N/A
Characters and Clues: Factors Affecting Children's Extension of Knowledge through Integration of Separate Episodes
Bauer, Patricia J.; King, Jessica E.; Larkina, Marina; Varga, Nicole L.; White, Elizabeth A.
Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, v111 n4 p681-694 Apr 2012
Children build up knowledge about the world and also remember individual episodes. How individual episodes during which children learn new things become integrated with one another to form general knowledge is only beginning to be explored. Integration between separate episodes is called on in educational contexts and in everyday life as a major means of extending knowledge and organizing information. Bauer and San Souci (2010) provided an initial demonstration that 6-year-olds extend their knowledge by integrating between separate but related episodes; the episodes shared a high level of surface similarity. Experiments 1A and 1B of the current research were tests of integration under low and high levels of surface similarity, respectively. In Experiment 1A, when surface similarity of the episodes was low, 6-year-olds integrated between passages of text, yet their performance was not as robust as observed previously. In Experiment 1B, when surface similarity of the episodes was high, a replication of Bauer and San Souci's results was observed. In Experiment 2, we tested whether a "hint" to consult the information learned in the passages improved performance even when surface level similarity was low. The hint had a strong facilitating effect. Possible mechanisms of integration between separate yet related episodes are discussed. (Contains 1 figure and 3 tables.)
Descriptors: Problem Solving, Children, Research, Experiments, Observation, Learning, Experiential Learning, Cues, Desegregation Methods, Elementary Education, Child Psychology, Reader Text Relationship, Reading
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Elementary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A