Task Dependency and the Role of Category Typicality and Metamemory in the Development of an Organizational Strategy. Marcus Hasselhorn; Child Development, v63 n1, p202-14, Feb 1992. -- reviewed by Xiaoqiu Xu, 5/20/09 Background In the last few years, it has been vigorously debated whether these differences in categorization and subsequent recall performance reflect the development of a deliberate memory strategy. Hypothesis Competence in strategic knowledge activation emerges between ages 8 and 10. Method Second and fourth graders (N1=96, N2=96) received 1 of 3 lists of items differing in category representativeness in either a free recall or a sort-recall task. Proximal and distal measures of metamemory also were derived. Results Hypothesis is supported: most 10-year-olds are capable of strategically activating category knowledge in appropriate task environments when items of high category typicality are provided. Levels of recall and clustering were superior in the sort-recall task and for items of high category typicality. Recall also increased with age, while grade effects for clustering were restricted to the sort-recall condition, not the free recall/high typicality. Clustering was correlated with proximal as well as distal specific metamemory and recall. Strength Design of the study: straightforward and comprehensive (2*2*3 between subjects design); Significance: it provides evidence concerning the task dependency of children’s use of an organizational strategy (sort-recall task is easier than the free recall task). Weakness Did not control for age; Did not control for the time of presentation (sort-recall is longer than free-recall); Did not analyze the correlation piece.