Specific exemplar retention and prototype abstraction in young and old adults.

Examined the effects of age differences in retention of information about specific concept members on 40 older adults' (mean age 72.3 yrs) and 40 younger adults' (mean age 20.6 yrs) ability to abstract central tendency information. The mean Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale—Revised (WAIS—R) Vocabulary scaled score for the young adults was significantly lower than that of the older adults. Ss were presented with a series of visual patterns that were organized around a prototype and were then presented with these same patterns plus a set of new patterns varying in prototype similarity in a recognition test. It was found that young Ss retained more information about specific acquisition set exemplars, which resulted in slightly different recognition responses for new patterns. However, the recognition behavior of both young and older Ss appeared to be governed by the same rules. It is suggested that the organization of conceptual information does not change with age but that the poorer retention of specific item information in older adults may result in a less complete representation. (14 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Age and schematic differences in the reliability of eyewitness testimony.

Examined the reliability of eyewitness testimony for the crime of shoplifting as a function of age, prior knowledge/expectations, and type of memory test. Study 1, with 100 10-yr-olds, 100 undergraduates, and 65 older adults (mean age 72.3 yrs), was designed to empirically establish Ss' expectations for common and unusual occurrences in shoplifting. Results from a rating task indicate that Ss had expectations for common and unusual occurrences of objects and actions but not person characteristics. In Study 2, 32 10-yr-olds, 32 undergraduates, and 29 older adults (mean age 67.6 yrs) viewed videotapes of staged shopliftings incorporating high and low probability-of-occurrence actions and objects. Incidental memory was tested 1 wk later under recall and recognition test instructions. All Ss' reports were more complete, but less accurate, for high than low probability-of-occurrence information. Children's reports were as complete as but less accurate than younger adults'. Older adults' reports were less complete than but as accurate as college students'. Age differences were greatest for completeness of recall measures. Implications for theories of memory development and for the use of eyewitness testimony in legal situations are discussed. (25 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of brain injury and age on prospective memory self-rating and performance.

Assessed internal consistency and test–retest reliability of the Prospective Memory Questionnaire (PMQ) developed by R. Hannon et al (1990). PMQ self-ratings of 15 college students (mean age 31.8 yrs) with brain injury were compared with 114 younger and 27 older noninjured adults (mean ages 28.4 and 73.4 yrs, respectively). Internal consistency of the PMQ was .92, and test–retest reliability was .88. Groups differed significantly on only one PMQ subscale. Actual prospective memory performance was significantly worse for Ss with brain injury and older Ss than for younger Ss on 2 of the 3 sets of summary measures. PMQ self-ratings were significantly but weakly correlated with short-term task performance, but not with long-term task performance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Episodic spatial memory in adulthood.

Two experiments examined age-related differences in memory for spatial location information in a museum exhibit (Exp 1) and in a secretarial office (Exp 2). In Exp 1, Ss were the visitors to the exhibit (N?=?302, 15–74 yrs of age), and memory was assessed using a map test. In Exp 2, Ss were 64 young adults (M?=?21.2 yrs) and 32 older adults (M?=?71.2 yrs), and memory was assessed using both a map test and a relocation test. The relocation test required Ss to replace the to-be-remembered targets where they appeared at study. Exp 1 showed an age-related decline in spatial memory performance, and it placed the onset of this decline in the 6th decade of life. Exp 2 showed an age-related decline on both tests, but age effects were smaller on the relocation test than on the map test, and when Ss knew that spatial memory would be tested than when they were not informed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Orienting tasks as moderators of narrative and expository text recall in adulthood.

Incidental narrative and expository prose memory of 60 older adults (mean age 71.6 yrs) and 60 younger adults (mean age 23.6 yrs) was assessed following orienting tasks that emphasized either relational (sentence scrambling) or individual proposition (letter deletion) information or following a control condition. Orienting tasks were done capably, but older adults took longer and made more errors on the letter-deletion task than did younger adults. Age differences in recall were observed consistently for expository texts, but for narrative texts, age differences in recall were observed only when letters were deleted. If orienting tasks overtax older adults' processing resources or emphasize shallow information, recall gains may be minimal. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Age differences in metamemory: Resolving the inconsistencies.

Conducted a cross-validation study of 2 questionnaires designed to measure knowledge, affects, and beliefs about memory in 2 large samples. A sample of 360 Ss from British Columbia was divided among the following 4 age groups: 20–26 yrs, 55–61 yrs, 62–68 yrs, and 69–78 yrs. The 2nd sample, from Pennsylvania, included 415 Ss representing the entire adult age range. Results suggest that there are significant age and sex differences in such perceptions. Compared with younger adults, older adults consistently reported less memory capacity, more decline in memory functioning, and believed they had less control over their memory ability. Females reported more strategy use and greater anxiety associated with memory than males. (French abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Episodic memory functioning in a community-based sample of old adults with major depression: Utilization of cognitive support.

Community-based samples of old adults with current major depression (n?=?17; mean age 83.29 yrs) and healthy old adults (n?=?51; mean age 83.29 yrs) were examined on a variety of episodic recall and recognition tasks. Results indicate depression-related deficits in recall that were reduced but not eliminated, in recognition. Control Ss were able to utilize cognitive support in the form of more study time and item organizability in free recall, whereas depressed Ss were not. However, both groups showed equal gains from the provision of category cues and beneficial effects of prior knowledge and more study time in recognition. Results suggest that depression results in deficits in effortful, elaborate processes at encoding and retrieval and that old age depression is associated with a reduced ability to utilize cognitive support to improve episodic memory. Depressed older adults appear to require cognitive support at both encoding and retrieval to demonstrate memory facilitation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Speed of information processing as a mediator between age and free-recall performance.

A combined experimental and individual differences approach was used to investigate the mediating role of task-specific and task-independent speed of information processing measures in the relationship between age and free-recall performance. 36 younger adults (mean age 21 yrs) and 36 older adults (mean age 73 yrs) participated. Participants were required to encode 3 lists of words for immediate recall, by rehearsing the words aloud, once, twice, and 3 times. Participants' speed of information processing was assessed by 3 measures: rehearsal time, articulation speed, and scores on the Digit Symbol Substitution Test (DSST). Working memory was also assessed by a backward word-span measure. As predicted, younger adults recalled more words after rehearsing words 3 times rather than once, whereas older adults' recall did not increase with increasing numbers of rehearsals. Younger adults were faster on all speed-of-processing measures and had higher backward word span than did older adults. Task-independent speed of processing, measured by DSST scores and articulation speed, mediated the relationship between age and free recall. Scores on the DSST appear to reflect a fundamental difference between younger and older adults that influences recall performance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Aging and illusory correlation in judgments of co-occurrence.

Examined the influence of aging on illusory correlation in judgments of co-occurrence. Ten older (aged 60–76 yrs) and 10 younger (aged 17–29 yrs) Ss judged the probability of co-occurrence for events associated with preexisting expectancies after receiving nonsalient or salient information about the true probabilities of co-occurrence of the events. Results showed that when current information on event co-occurrence was not salient, preexisting expectancies strongly influenced the judgments of both younger and older Ss. However, when this information was salient, younger Ss' judgments reflected more accurate adjustment to the probabilistic relationships in the information than did older Ss' judgments. This age difference may be related to changes in memory processes that accompany increasing age and to differences in judgment processes necessitated by these changes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

How much and how fast: Rapid processing of spoken language in later adulthood.

Conducted 2 experiments, using 36 older adults (aged 61–82 yrs) and 24 undergraduates, in which Ss listened to and immediately recalled sentences that were systematically varied in speech rate and number of propositions. Although recall performance of the older Ss showed a disproportionate decline when speech rate was increased, older Ss, as well as the younger Ss, were able to recall sentences of increasing propositional densities. It was also found that the tendency to recall a greater proportion of main ideas than details (the levels effect) was enhanced by increased propositional density and depressed by increased speech rate and increased age. These results are discussed in terms of an age-related change in the rate at which information can be processed in working memory. (37 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Semantic priming during sentence processing by young and older adults.

Examined semantic processing of sentences by 30 younger (mean age 25.1 yrs) and 30 older (mean age 68.5 yrs) adults, using a priming technique. Ss read a sentence and then made a lexical decision about a target presented immediately after the sentence. For both age groups, word targets that were instruments implied by the action of the sentence had faster latencies than unrelated word targets. There was no evidence of inhibition of unrelated targets, suggesting that the facilitation of instrument targets involved automatic processes. Results provide no evidence for age-related changes in semantic processing of sentences, including access to implied information. Older Ss did, however, have poorer memory for the sentences on a recognition test. It is suggested that previous findings by G. Cohen (see PA, Vols 63:747 and 67:958) of age deficits in comprehension may depend on techniques that measure what is remembered rather than what is understood. (35 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Memory interference effects and aging: Findings from a test of frontal lobe function.

Performance on behavioral measures of self-ordered pointing and 2-choice recognition memory was evaluated in young adults (aged 18–23 yrs) and 2 groups of older adults (aged 61–70 yrs and 71–80 yrs). The self-ordered pointing test involves working memory and has been used as an index of frontal lobe dysfunction; to perform well, Ss must organize stimulus information and monitor responses. Both groups of older adults exhibited impairment on the pointing test, but the pattern of impairment was different for the 2 groups. Individuals in their 60s exhibited impairment on a 2nd block of trials but not on the 1st block. Individuals in their 70s exhibited deficits on both blocks of trials. On the recognition test, only individuals in their 70s exhibited impairment. The findings suggest that age-related impairments occur in both working memory and recognition memory. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Differential memory changes with age: Exact retrieval versus plausible inference.

Conducted 2 experiments on the use of direct retrieval and plausibility memory strategies in elderly and college-age adults. In Exp I, which used an episodic memory task, data were obtained from 49 65–80 yr old college alumni and from 58 college students who had served in a previous study by the 1st author (see record 1983-02731-001). Findings indicate that older Ss effectively used the plausibility strategy but performed more poorly than younger Ss when the direct retrieval strategy was required. Results of Exp II, using 18 college alumni (8 Ss aged 20–31 yrs, 10 Ss aged 64–75 yrs) with a semantic memory task, show that older Ss' accuracy was essentially undistinguishable from that of younger Ss as long as a plausibility judgment process produced the correct response. It is argued that careful inspection is a much more costly process for older adults than it is for young adults but that plausibility judgments and feature overlap processes are equally easy for both age groups. (44 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Association between aerobic fitness and visuospatial performance in healthy older adults.

Examined whether chronic physical exercise activity is associated with better neurocognitive performance in older adults. 105 men participated in 1 of 3 age groups (18–28, 35–45, and 60–73 yrs). For each age group, Ss were classified as high or low in fitness on the basis of self-reported activity levels and the results of a submaximal bicycle ergometer test. A comprehensive battery of neuropsychological tests was administered to each S, and older Ss scored significantly lower than the younger groups on most tests. Significant differences between high- and low-fit Ss were found only on tasks with heavy visuospatial demands, and these differences were most notable in the older adult group. These findings suggest that participation in aerobic exercise activity selectively preserves some cognitive functions that normally decline with age. The benefits of activity appear to be most evident on tasks that require visuospatial processing. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The effect of imagery on explicit and implicit tests of memory in young and old people: A double dissociation.

Examined the effect of imagery on implicit and explicit tests of memory in young and old adults. 48 undergraduates (mean age 21 yrs) and 64 adults (mean age 72.48 yrs) in Canada were presented with 2 separate word lists in a random order and were assigned to imagery or no-imagery instruction conditions. Ss in the imagery instruction condition read the words to themselves, formed a mental image of it, and rated their ability to do so. Ss in the no-imagery instruction condition simply read the words. All Ss were tested on explicit or implicit memory tests and asked to describe the mnemonic strategies used. Results show that imaging the referent of a visually-presented word improved the performance of the young Ss on the explicit memory test, but reduced their performance on the implicit test. Results of the elderly Ss showed a similar trend but did not reach the level of significance observed for young adults. (French abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Further testing of limits of cognitive plasticity: Negative age differences in a mnemonic skill are robust.

Extended earlier testing-the-limits research on age differences in cognitive plasticity of a memory skill by 18 additional assessment and training sessions to explore whether older adults were able to catch up with additional practice and improved training conditions. The focus was on the method of loci, which requires mental imagination to encode and retrieve lists of words from memory in serial order. Of the original 37 Ss, 35 (16 young, aged 20–30 yrs, and 19 older adults, aged 66–80 yrs) participated in the follow-up study. Older adults showed sizable performance deficits when compared with young adults and tested for limits of reserve capacity. The negative age difference was substantial, resistant to extensive practice, and applied to all Ss studied. The primary origin for this negative age difference may be a loss in the production and use of mental imagination for operations of the mind. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Female counselor–client dyads: Effects of counselor age, client marital status, and intimacy level of presenting problem on perceptions of counselors.

Explored the impact of counselor age, level of intimacy of clients' presenting problems, and client marital status on perception of counselors and the counseling relationship with 48 married females (mean age 21.9 yrs) and 48 unmarried females (mean age 26.3 yrs). Ss viewed a series of 3 videotapes, which were counterbalanced for level of intimacy of client's presenting problems and depicted initial interviews between young female clients and either younger or older female counselors. After viewing each individual vignette, Ss completed a counselor rating form, a client satisfaction form, and manipulation checks for presenting problem intimacy and counselor age. Overall, differences in presenting problems and counselor age were perceived as intended. Ss' marital status was unrelated to any measures. Counselors were judged as most expert, attractive, and trustworthy when dealing with presenting problems that were least intimate. Ss anticipated greater satisfaction with younger rather than older counselors only for the least intimate presenting problem. (22 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Age differences in integrated semantic memory.

Used J. D. Bransford and J. J. Franks's (1971) paradigm of linguistic abstraction to examine age differences in the nature of stored semantic information. 20 young (mean age 18.7 yrs) and 18 old adults (mean age 67.3 yrs) served as Ss. Specifically, age differences on 2 dimensions of memory were examined: (a) integration of related content from separate sentences and (b) retention of precise semantic content. Young and old Ss were not found to differ in the precision of retained semantic information. Furthermore, while both age groups evidenced integration of information as indexed by a strong linear trend of recognition rate across sentence complexity, this trend did not interact with age, supporting the idea that both age groups showed comparable integration of linguistic information into holistic ideas. Implications for current conceptualizations of age differences in memory are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Memory and metamemory: A study of the feeling-of-knowing phenomenon in amnesic patients.

Tested accuracy of the feeling of knowing in 2 experiments, using 8 patients with Korsakoff's syndrome (mean age 54 yrs), 8 electroconvulsive shock therapy (ECT) patients (mean age 46.5 yrs), 4 Ss (mean age 47 yrs) with other causes of amnesia, 2 alcoholic control groups (7 Ss with a mean age of 47.6 yrs and 19 Ss with a mean age of 48.5 yrs), and 18 healthy controls (mean age 49 yrs). In Exp I, feeling-of-knowing accuracy for the answers to general information questions that could not be recalled was tested. Ss were asked to rank nonrecalled questions in terms of how likely they thought they would be to recognize the answers and were then given a recognition test for these items. Only Korsakoff's syndrome Ss were impaired in making feeling-of-knowing predictions. The other amnesic Ss were as accurate as control Ss in their feeling-of-knowing predictions. In Exp II, these findings were replicated in a sentence memory paradigm that tested newly learned information. Results show that impaired metamemory is not an obligatory feature of amnesia, because amnesia can occur without detectable metamemory deficits. The impaired metamemory exhibited by patients with Korsakoff's syndrome reflects a cognitive impairment that is not typically observed in other forms of amnesia. (50 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)