Utilization deficiency and working memory capacity in adult memory performance: not just for children anymore

In acquiring mnemonic strategies, children may demonstrate a utilization deficiency phase in which they successfully execute a strategy but it does not facilitate memory performance. The present experiment suggests that utilization deficiencies are not a developmental phenomenon per se, but rather a byproduct of diminished working memory capacity for any reason (i.e., maturation, knowledge base, context, individual differences, etc.). Adults performing a series of study-test memory trials using nonsense words exhibited characteristics of utilization deficiencies, with increased strategy use not contributing to increased memory performance. Furthermore, adults' working memory capacity modified the effect. Implications of these findings for developmental models of strategy acquisition are discussed.