An examination of errors in children's visual and haptic-tactual memory for random forms

Hypotheses were advanced that (a) errors of omission would occur more frequently than errors of commission, and (b) errors would be related to stimulus complexity. Forty-eight children, 12 boys and 12 girls from each grades 1 and 3 were given a memory task for recognition of random polygons of 4, 8, 12, 16, and 20 sides; these forms were presented either visually or haptically. Visual memory was found to be superior to haptic memory, and performance on both tasks improved with age. Analyses of error-type and sideness, the two major variables of a priori interest, indicated support for both hypotheses. The curvilinear relationship between errors and sideness suggested difficulty in identifying shapes of intermediate complexity.