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In one ear and out the other: Verbal reminders do not improve young children's prospective memory performance on a
Madeline K Maguire1, Caitlin E V Mahy1
1Department of Psychology, Brock University, St. Catharines, Ontario L2S 3A1, Canada.
Journal of Experimental Child Psychology
|March 29, 2025
Summary
Verbal reminders did not improve prospective memory (PM) in young children. Age was the only predictor of PM performance, suggesting developmental stage is key, not specific reminder types.
Area of Science:
- Developmental Psychology
- Cognitive Science
Background:
- Prospective memory (PM) is crucial for future intentions but challenging for young children.
- Previous research indicates cue-action reminders enhance PM in adults and older children.
- The impact of verbal cue and action reminders on preschooler PM remains understudied.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the effect of verbal cue and action reminders on preschool children's prospective memory performance.
- To determine if cue-only or action-only reminders impact PM in young children.
- To explore the role of age and reminder types in children's PM development.
Main Methods:
- 88 North American children aged 3–6 years participated in a virtual prospective memory task.
- Participants sorted cards and were prompted to wave at specific elephant cards.
- Children received cue-action, cue-only, action-only, or control reminders.
Main Results:
- Age was the sole significant predictor of prospective memory performance.
- Reminder types (cue-action, cue-only, action-only) did not significantly affect children's PM.
- Interaction terms involving reminder types and age did not yield significant results.
Conclusions:
- Verbal reminders, in the tested formats, do not appear to enhance prospective memory in preschool children.
- Developmental stage (age) is a more significant factor in prospective memory abilities than specific reminder strategies.
- Further research is needed to understand effective methods for supporting children's prospective memory development.
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