Verbal learning in children: implications for developmental research.

Current research in verbal learning is reviewed in terms of its implications for developmental research. Suggestions are provided which relate to the methodology of research incorporating age as a treatment variable in addition to highlighting the analytical utility of verbal learning paradigms in the study of developmental learning processes. The similarities of theory and data relating to nonverbal tasks (e.g., probability-learning, transposition, reversal-shift, and discrimination-learning paradigms) and to theory concerning the interaction of verbal learning and development are also discussed. Two general implications may be drawn from Keppel's (1964) recent review of the research related to verbal learning in children: 1. There is a paucity of research in this area, with little data tracing changes in verbal processes that take place as a function of age. 2. The data that are available provide evidence that the processes that characterize verbal learning in children are similar to those of adults. The latter conclusion is not an earthshaking one, as the expectation would be that the processes involved in verbal learning, transfer of training, etc., operative in children would be subject to the same variables as those in adults. However, it does not follow that the data collected from children should mirror (with the possible exception of a difference in a learning-rate constant) those from adults. It is a contention of this paper that the data and theory collected in the area of verbal learning, especially those appearing since 1960, contain myriad implications or suggestions for age-related interactions. Goulet (in press) has discussed some of these implications especially as they relate to the assessment of the learning deficit in retardates and retardate development, but no parallel review is available which concerns the development of normal children.