A developmental change of strategies in reversal shift process

The purposes of this study was to assess the developmental changes of strategies in reversal shift process. A reversal shift with verbal materials containing 2 dimensions simultaneously was investigated at 4 developmental levels: Second grade, fourth grade, junior high school, and college. After the shift problem was completed, the level of information-processing of Ss was inquired under some questions. The results showed that (1) in all developmental levels, 3 strategies, conceptual, response-switching, and associative strategies were found. (2) in the shift problem, the response-switching strategy group as well as the conceptual strategy group learned more quickly than the associative strategy group, and (3) the use of conceptual strategy increased with age. It was suggested that developmental changes of strategies in reversal shift process may reflect differences in the level of information-processing Ss reached at the end of original learning.