Component 2: Memory and Working Memory
Standard 2.a: Children hold information in their mind and manipulate it to perform tasks.
By the following age ranges, children typically, for example:
- Respond to familiar people and objects in a way that is different from the way they respond to unfamiliar people or objects
- After repeated experiences with the same objects and persons, sometimes remember that unseen objects are still there (e.g., remembering that a ball is under the blanket)
- Attend to unexpected events
- Point to, or in some other way indicate, familiar people and objects when they are named
- Remember the location of objects that are meaningful to them
- Demonstrate an understanding of object permanence, such as reaching under a blanket to retrieve a stuffed animal
- Demonstrate a solid understanding of object permanence (e.g., looking for a car after it enters a tunnel, finding play dough that has been put away in a cupboard)
- Purposefully put two actions together in sequence (e.g., grabbing a large ball and rolling it)
- Remember and communicate what happened earlier in the day; recall basic components of recent events (e.g., are able to follow a daily routine)
- Know where things are kept in familiar environments and can retrieve them when needed
- Successfully follow two-step directions
- Communicate with some detail about events that happened in the past
- With support, retell or reenact familiar stories, including such details as characters, phrases, and events
- Put several objects or groups in order by a quantitative attribute (number, length, etc.)
- Solve simple problems with totals of five or fewer items (e.g., concluding that they have a total of four pencils if they already have three and are given one more)
- Successfully follow three-step directions
- Accurately recount past experiences in the correct order and include relevant details
- Retell a familiar story or activity in the proper sequence, including such details as characters, phrases, and events
- Remember more minute details from a story or experience and can answer questions more accurately
- Place four or more objects or groups in order of a quantitative attribute (number, length, etc.)
- Solve simple word problems with totals of 10 or fewer items (e.g., concluding that they have nine grapes if they have seven and are given two more)
- Successfully follow detailed, multi-step directions
