Abstract The measurement of individual differences in cognitive processes and the advancement of multinomial processing tree (MPT) models were two of William H. Batchelder’s major research interests. Inspired by his work, we investigated developmental differences between 7-year-old children, 10-year-old children, and young adults, in free recall with the pair-clustering model by Batchelder and Riefer (1980, 1986). Specifically, we examined individual differences (in initial levels and in change across multiple study–test trials) in cluster encoding, retrieval, and covariation with three basic cognitive abilities: semantic verbal understanding, short-term memory capacity, information-processing speed. Data from two developmental studies in which 228 participants freely recalled clusterable words in four study–test cycles were used for reanalysis. We combined two model extensions not linked so far (Klauer, 2010; Knapp & Batchelder, 2004). This novel combination of modeling methods made it possible to analyze the relation between individual cognitive abilities and changes in cluster encoding and retrieval across study–test cycles. Inspired by William H. Batchelder, this work illustrates how MPT modeling can contribute to the understanding of cognitive development.

中文翻译：

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分层多项式建模解释儿童自由回忆聚类的个体差异

摘要 认知过程中个体差异的测量和多项式处理树（MPT）模型的进步是William H. Batchelder 的两个主要研究兴趣。受他工作的启发，我们使用 Batchelder 和 Riefer (1980, 1986) 的配对聚类模型在自由回忆中调查了 7 岁儿童、10 岁儿童和年轻人之间的发育差异。具体而言，我们通过三种基本认知能力检查了集群编码、检索和协变方面的个体差异（初始水平和跨多个研究-测试试验的变化）：语义语言理解、短期记忆能力、信息处理速度。来自两项发展研究的数据用于重新分析，其中 228 名参与者在四个研究 - 测试周期中自由回忆了可聚类的单词。我们结合了两个目前没有关联的模型扩展（Klauer，2010；Knapp & Batchelder，2004）。这种建模方法的新颖组合使分析个体认知能力与跨学习测试周期的集群编码和检索变化之间的关系成为可能。受 William H. Batchelder 的启发，这项工作说明了 MPT 建模如何有助于理解认知发展。