Prompt-facilitated learning: The development of unprompted memory integration and subsequent self-derivation

What are the boundaries that limit expansion of semantic knowledge across development? One striking contender is the necessity of a prompt to integrate and self-generate new information. The present research was an investigation of 7-9-year-olds' and 18-22-year-olds' prompted versus unprompted memory integration and subsequent self-derivation of new knowledge. Children and adults (Experiments 1 and 2, respectively) were exposed to sets of novel, true facts that could be integrated to self-derive new knowledge. On some trials they were prompted to integrate and self-derive and on others they were not. Both children and young adults capitalized more effectively on prompted opportunities to self-derive compared with unprompted opportunities, and the mechanism of this difference in performance likely underlies memory integration. Thus, the current work illustrates the importance of the conditions under which memory integration occurs, regardless of age. Results also offer evidence consistent with developmental change in unprompted integration and self-derivation performance, such that children and adults may engage the process of self-derivation differently. This work is particularly important in highlighting the necessity of appropriate scaffolding to foster successful learning opportunities and understanding the conditions under which semantic knowledge is accumulated.