Recognition of previously labeled or unlabeled pictures by 5-year-olds and adults

Pictures accompanied by spoken descriptive labels or unaccompanied by labels were presented, and then pictures alone were shown in tests for recognition. Adults and 5-year-olds more often recognized the previously labeled pictures than the previously unlabeled pictures, but reaction-times were unaffected by labeling. These findings fit the view that recognition, like recall, involves active encoding and systematic retrieval processes. In contrast to previous data showing no developmental changes, fewer recognition errors were made by adults than by 5-year-olds.