Abstract
The aim of the present study was to examine whether repeated retrieval during studying could lead to better promotion of long-term retention compared to repeated hearing, not only for young children without delayed vocabulary understanding but also for young children with delayed vocabulary understanding. The participants in the study, 30 children, 15 of whom (8 boys, 7 girls, mean age 68.4 months) had delayed vocabulary understanding and the other 15 of whom were a control group (9 boys, 6 girls, mean age 70 months), experienced repeated retrieval / hearing, and then were tested 5 minutes and 4 hours later. The results were as follows: (a) the performance of the delayed group was worse than that of the control group, irrespective of the retention interval and study condition, and (b) an intervening repeated retrieval led to better memory performance on the tests 5 minutes and 4 hours later in both groups, compared to repeated hearing of the same materials for the same amount of time. These results suggest that repeated retrieval appeared to have a powerful effect on long-term retention in these young children's memory, even including children with delayed vocabulary understanding.
