Effect of interest on attentional shift, recognition, and recall in young children.

Abstract

Interests of young children (2.9 to 4.2 years of age) were naturalistically identified through patterns of attention in the preschool classroom. These interests were subsequently related to performance in three experimental tasks assessing (a) the direction of attentional shift to items in the peripheral visual field, (b) the level of recognition of previously encountered pictures, and (c) recall of previously presented objects. Interests were found to be strong, relatively well focused, and individually variable. In addition, a child's particular interests appeared to be a powerful determinant of the direction of attentional shift, level of recognition, and likelihood of recall. Findings are interpreted in terms of a cognitive/affective conceptualization of interest as a central feature of the knowledge and value systems that individuals bring to the task of organizing experience and memory.Recent discussions of attention and memory have begun to focus on subject variables. Craik (1979), for example, suggested that compatibility between information to be stored and subjects' existing knowledge structures may influence elaboration of the information and the distinctiveness with which it is subsequently encoded. In a tetrahedral model specifying variables that affect the child's evolving memory system, Jenkins (1979; see also Bransford, 1979;Brown, 1982) pointed to subject characteristics such as knowledge, purpose, and interest as critical sources of variance in memory.The present research was designed to investigate attention and memory as a function of the last of these subject variables-interest. Individual differences in interest and their effect on the processing of information are a matter of common observation. Two children, for example, can walk through a park and This report is based on portions of a dissertation submitted by the first author to the Department of Education and Child Development, Bryn Mawr College.

Child social ethology and peer relations: a developmental review of methodology and findings

“…For example, researchers have considered the emotional valence of objects and the influence of object interest on children's cognitive processes (Renninger and Wozniak 1985), or the role of objects as mediators of social interaction between mothers and their infants (Nadel 1986). However, object use in the peer group and its role in the develop-ing sociality of the young child is less often a focus of investigative interest.…”

Memory Development Between 2 and 20

“…That there were no significant effects in Somerville et al that involved the age factor suggests that even 2-year-olds are capable of intentional memory, at least when given an interesting event to remember. See Renninger and Wozniak (1985) for complementary evidence documenting that interesting stimuli can prompt deliberate memory behaviors in children.…”

Efecto del tipo de prueba de evaluación en la memoria y valoración de marcas publicitarias

“…El interés se ha relacionado con el nivel de atención y también con el recuerdo de la información (Renniger y Wozniak, 1985). La información que consideramos interesante es capaz de atraer nuestro foco atencional, incluso cuando se presenta en la periferia de nuestro campo de visión, y es también la que mejor recordamos en una prueba de recuerdo libre respecto de otra información menos intere-sante (Renniger y Wozniak, 1985; Wade y Adams, 1990, Exp.…”