Mediated Memory with Novel and Familiar Stimuli in Good and Poor Readers

Abstract

Mean recall scores were significantly higher for good readers than poor and higher for the familiar stimuli when compared with the novel stimuli. There was no difference in recall between good and poor readers with easily coded familiar stimuli, while the good readers did significantly better than poor readers in the novel condition. Analysis of rehearsal strategy indicated that most good readers maintained a consistent verbal strategy for both familiar and novel conditions, while the poor readers switched from a verbal to a visual strategy in the novel condition. The verbal rehearsal strategy was found to be superior to the visual strategy in recalling sequentially tapped stimuli. The results confirm the position which suggests that poor readers have a deficit in applying verbal labels to certain physical stimuli.