High-level memory skill defined as the ability to remember to remember.

Memory development is one aspect of a child's cognitive development. Memory skills, such as grouping similar bits of information together, using acronyms or other mnemonic devices, are characteristics of older children, adolescents, and adults. (For example, a child learning the names of the planets in the solar system may use the initial letters of the words in this sentence to recall the planets: My very educated mother just sold us nine pizzas for Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto.) Metamemory is the skill to remember that one needs to recall something for a specific purpose. This skill is one of the most advanced in the developing child's memory repertoire.

For Further Study

Books

Antaki, Charles and Alan Lewis, eds. Mental Mirrors: Metacognition in Social Knowledge and Communication. Beverly Hills: Sage, 1986.

Moely, Barbara E. Teachers' Expectations for Memory and Metamemory Skills of Elementary School Children. Washington, DC: National Institute of Education, 1985.

Sweeney, Dee. Meet Your Mind. Washington, DC: Office of Educational Research and Improvement, 1994.

Volk, Tyler. Metapatterns across Space, Time, and Mind. New York: Columbia University Press, 1995.