An information-processing view of children's memory

Article Abstract:

In their book ''Memory Development Between 2 and 20'' (1989), Wolfgang Schneider and Michael Pressley offer an overview of literature on the developmental changes which occur in the structural and processing components of memory during childhood and adolescence. The organization of subject matter and writing style are appropriate for advanced undergraduates and beginning graduate students. Included is an historic review of the information-processing approach, developmental changes in short-term memory, theories of memory encoding, information retrieval strategies, and the knowledge base (the component of information-processing related to the accumulation of knowledge). A major focus of the book is on metamemory and strategy use. Metamemory involves a child's growing capacity for sensitivity to knowing which situations call for conscious efforts at memorization and acquiring knowledge related to all factors that affect memory. For instance, knowing that faces are easier to remember than names or that everyone forgets things are metamemory factors. Learning that repetition of a fact can help memorization falls under the category of strategy use. The point is made that the acquisition of strategies and knowledge about when to apply them should be a focus of future developmental-metamemory research. One drawback to this otherwise encompassing book is that interactions between environmental conditions and the developmental and organizational aspects of memory and cognition are not explored in depth. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

Research, Demographic aspects, Memory, Information storage and retrieval, Human information processing in children, Childhood information processing

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Addressing school problems by treating the family

Article Abstract:

In their book ''Family Counseling in School Settings'' (1988), editors William M. Walsh and Nan J. Giblin have put together a series of articles that address the need for family therapy in the school system. The articles include subjects such as theories of family therapy, community intervention through schools, family therapy geared toward specific types of families (such as the alcoholic or single-parent family), and discussions of how family therapy can strengthen the ties between the school and family. The book emphasizes practical methods which can be readily implemented with step-by-step advice on how to begin family therapy in schools. Although the authors point out that training or retraining in family counseling should precede beginning interventions, a discussion of how schools function as a system within the community is never presented, so that the reader is not provided with a means of assessing the needs of the school or of its clients. Ethical issues related to conducting family therapy in the school system are also omitted. In sum, the book offers a basic introduction to the possible benefits of family counseling in schools, including important discussions of viewing a child's problem from a systems perspective. However, the presentation of the methodology and technique necessary for providing family-school counseling is too simplistic to be practical or useful. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

Methods, Family psychotherapy, Family counseling, School psychology

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