Use of Self-Generated and Supplied Visuals as Mnemonics in Gifted Children's Learning

Abstract

In accordance with ancient belief and recent research, we hypothesized that self-generated imagery techniques of gifted children would be superior to supplied (experimenter-provided) visuals in facilitating recall and recognition on a memory task. 27 high-potential students in Grades 4 to 6 were divided into three treatment groups to investigate the effects of rote repetition, self-generated visualization, and supplied visuals on the memorization of concrete noun-word pairs. Perhaps because even gifted children do not know how to construct good visual images without training and practice, our hypothesis was not supported. The supplied visual condition produced significantly better results than did either of the other treatment conditions, implying that the utilization of appropriate techniques helps gifted children learn certain memory tasks. However, one wonders if effective instruction in the development of self-generated mnemonic techniques might not be of greater benefit to young learners of such tasks.