Developmental Differences in Strategy Use and Encoding: Evidence from Pattern Completion

This study examined developmental differences in encoding and strategy use for serial pattern problems. Kindergarten and adult participants completed two tasks: a pattern completion task and a pattern reconstruction task. In the pattern completion task, participants were asked what came next in a pattern of six items that varied in both shape and size. In the reconstruction task, participants were asked to reconstruct a pattern of six items on a felt board after viewing the pattern for 6 seconds. Children and adults used different strategies to solve the pattern completion problems. Children often used strategies that focused on only one dimension (shape), while adults used strategies that focused on both shape and size. Children also encoded the problems less adequately than adults, as shown in their problem reconstructions. Children's encoding focused on the shape dimension; they made more errors in reconstructing size. Adults, however, made more errors reconstructing shape. These results suggest that there is a link between encoding and strategy use.