Age differences in recall and recognition.

An experiment is reported in which young and elderly adults performed cued-recall and recognition tests while carrying out a choice reaction-time task. An analysis of covariance, with recognition performance as the covariate, showed a reliable age decrement in recall. It was therefore concluded that older people perform more poorly on recall tasks than they do on recognition tasks. Performance on the secondary (reaction time) task showed that recall was associated with greater resource "costs" than was recognition and that this effect was amplified by increasing age. The results are in line with the suggestion that recall requires more processing resources than does recognition and that such resources are depleted as people grow older. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Age differences in free recall and subjective organization.

Previous studies concerned with subjective organization occurring during free-recall learning have not provided consistent evidence for a hypothesis of organizational deficiency in the elderly. To assess the role of recall conditions in this discrepancy, the free-recall learning of younger and older adults was examined under conditions where the recalled words were either visible or not visible. Also, 5 measures of subjective organization, including measures used in earlier studies, were used to assess the role of measurement factors in producing the inconsistent findings. Younger adults, regardless of recall condition, recalled more words and showed more subjective organization than did the older adults with each of the measures. List length, rather than type of recall trial or measure of subjective organization, seems to be responsible for the conflicting findings obtained by other investigators. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Age differences in visuospatial working memory.

In two visuospatial working memory (VSWM) span experiments, older and young participants were tested under conditions of either high or low interference, using two different displays: computerized versions of a 3 × 3 matrix or the standard (randomly arrayed) Corsi block task (P. M. Corsi, 1972). Older adults' VSWM estimates were increased in the low-interference, compared with the high-interference, condition, replicating findings with verbal memory span studies. Young adults showed the opposite pattern, and together the findings suggest that typical VSWM span tasks include opposing components (interference and practice) that differentially affect young and older adults. (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)     

Age differences in context integration in memory.

This research examined the role of contextual integration in memories of younger and older adults. In 2 experiments, recall of a target picture to a context picture cue was better when sentences were generated that integrated the picture pair and when the picture pairs were already related to each other. Age differences were smallest when sentences were generated for semantically related pairs. Older adults generated the same type sentences as younger adults, although they generated fewer integrations for unrelated pairs. In a 3rd experiment, younger adults could not differentiate between younger- and older-generated sentences from Experiment 1, and the sentences did not differentially affect recall performance. The results are discussed in terms of age differences in self-initiated processing when using context. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Age effects in cued recall: Sources from implicit and explicit memory.

In 2 experiments, young and old adults were compared on cued recall using direct and indirect test instructions. Participants studied words under an incidental orienting task of rating each word for concreteness. Test cues were meaningfully related to the targets, and participants used them either to recall the studied word (direct test) or to generate a related word (indirect test). Target words and test cues varied in the number of associates linked to them prior to the laboratory experience, and effects of the size of the sets of associates were used as indicators of implicit memory search. Age differences were observed in the effects of target and cue set size as well as in the effects of type of test instruction. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Everyday memory failure: Age differences in appraisal and attribution.

A person perception paradigm was used to test 86 young and 84 older Ss for evidence of a double standard in appraising everyday memory failures of young and older targets. Vignettes were judged on separate Likert scales for possible attributions for the failure (ability, effort, task difficulty, chance, and 2 measures of attention), signs of mental difficulty, need for memory training, and indications of need for professional evaluation. Results confirmed a double standard used by young and old: The failures of older targets were judged as signifying greater mental difficulty and greater need for memory training than were the identical failures of young targets. Older Ss were more lenient overall than young Ss in their appraisals. Young Ss judged target persons' memory failures as signifying more mental difficulty, and they more readily recommended professional evaluation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Age and individual differences influence prospective memory.

The influence of age and individual ability differences on event-based prospective memory was examined using an adapted version of G. 0. Einstein and M. A. McDaniel's (1990) task. Two samples of younger and older adults who differed in educational attainment, occupational status, and verbal ability were compared. Results yield comparable prospective performance for the younger groups and higher ability older adults; lower ability older adults performed more poorly by comparison. Hierarchical regression analyses indicated that working memory span and recognition accounted for small but significant proportions of variance in prospective performance. The contribution of ability level to prospective memory remained significant even after statistically controlling for self-reported health and social activity characteristics. Implications for current views on prospective memory aging are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Age differences in entropy: primary versus secondary memory

We report a spatial-memory scanning experiment that was used to measure age differences in entropy. A target grid consisting of four adjacent letters followed by the presentation of a single probe letter was presented on each trial. Half of the trials presented the probe stimulus in the same spatial position was the target letter (i.e., the probe letter was always a member of the positive set), and half of the trials transposed the target letter one, two, or three spaces of the right or left of the original target display position (i.e., different trials). The experiment involved blocks of primary-memory and secondary-memory tasks. Reaction-time and error-rate data, as well as entropy analyses and the fitting of an entropy model (based on Allen, Kaufman, Smith, and Propper, in press) to the empirical data indicated that older adults showed higher entropy levels than young adults. These results are interpreted in a "computational temperature" framework in which older adults' higher computational temperatures result in less efficient spatial, episodic memory functioning.     

Age differences in prefrontal cortical activity in working memory.

Working memory (WM) declines with advancing age. Brain imaging studies indicate that ventral prefrontal cortex (PFC) is active when information is retained in WM and that dorsal PFC is further activated for retention of large amounts of information. The authors examined the effect of aging on activation in specific PFC regions during WM performance. Six younger and 6 older adults performed a task in which, on each trial, they (a) encoded a 1- or 6-letter memory set, (b) maintained these letters over 5-s, and (c) determined whether or not a probe letter was part of the memory set. Comparisons of activation between the 1- and 6-letter conditions indicated age-equivalent ventral PFC activation. Younger adults showed greater dorsal PFC activation than older adults. Older adults showed greater rostral PFC activation than younger adults. Aging may affect dorsal PFC brain regions that are important for WM executive components. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Semantic activation and episodic memory: Age similarities and differences.

In 2 experiments, 48 19–35 yr olds and 48 59–75 yr olds were engaged in semantic and nonsemantic orienting tasks and were subsequently given incidental or expected recall and recognition tasks. Reaction time (RT) patterns from the orienting tasks suggested that all Ss experienced similar semantic activation during encoding. Under incidental conditions, age differences in memory performance were minimal. When memory tests were expected, younger Ss recalled and recognized more items than did older Ss, suggesting that younger Ss were more effective in their deployment of mnemonic strategies. The age difference was particularly pronounced for unattended items, which suggests an age difference in the capacity to encode all of the episodic information. (31 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Age differences in explicit and implicit memory for pictures.

In the present study, the authors examined age effects in memory for nonverbal material. A picture fragment completion task was used to test explicit and implicit memory in a younger and an older group. Explicit memory was indexed by free recall of pictures, whereas implicit memory was indexed by perceptual learning (priming). Both free recall and perceptual learning performance were found to be impaired in the older group. A measure of executive functioning was found to be predictive of both explicit and implicit memory. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Age differences in memory for item and source information.

Investigated the effects of normal aging on source amnesia in 2 experiments. In Exp I, 31 young adults (mean age 19.4 yrs) and 30 older adults (mean age 69.2 yrs) were taught real facts about Canada. One week later they were asked to recall the facts and remember where they had learned them. Findings show that the older people exhibited greater amounts of forgetting of the source of their knowledge. Exp II, which used 24 young adults (mean age 23.3 yrs) and 24 older adults (mean age 69.7 yrs), confirmed the findings of Exp I using made up facts. It is suggested that the finding of source amnesia in older, normal people has implications for theories of amnesia and, possibly, for theories of frontal lobe functions. (French abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Dimensions of everyday memory in age-associated memory impairment.

A battery of tests that uses computer and laser disk technology to simulate learning and memory tasks of everyday life, such as recalling names after introduction and remembering items on a grocery list, is described. The performance of 110 persons suffering Age-Associated Memory Impairment was factor analyzed and yielded everyday memory dimensions of verbal memory, visual memory, psychomotor speed, attention, and vigilance. These computerized performance dimensions are associated with relevant standard clinical measures of memory performance, such as the Benton Visual Retention Test and the Wechsler Memory Scale Paired-Associated Learning and Logical Memory subtests. The clinical and research utility of the computerized measures and the new diagnostic category of Age-Associated Memory Impairment are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The bankruptcy of everyday memory.

A new approach to the study of memory has emerged recently, characterized by a preoccupation with natural settings and with the immediate applicability of research findings. In contrast, the laboratory study of memory relies on experimental techniques for theory testing and is concerned with the discovery of generalizable principles. Although both approaches share the goal of generalizability, they differ sharply in the evaluation of how that goal is best accomplished. In this article, we criticize the everyday memory approach, arguing that ecologically valid methods do not ensure generalizability of findings. We discuss studies high in ecological validity of method but low in generalizability, and others low in ecological validity of method but high in generalizability. We solidly endorse the latter approach, believing that an obsession with ecological validity of method can compromise genuine accomplishments. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Age differences in memory performance and memory ratings as measured in a sample survey.

Age differences in memory performance were studied in a probability sample of a cross-section of 1,491 adults living in the Detroit metropolitan area, with an oversample of those age 60 and older. Both a recall and a recognition measure were adapted to the survey context by querying respondents about the nature of the questions asked in an immediately preceding interview. Subjective memory assessment was also measured, using global memory ratings performed by the respondent, his or her spouse, and the interviewer. A clear, age-related decline in memory performance was found in this population sample. Subjective memory assessment also declined across age groups, but the relation was weaker. On the basis of multiple regression analyses of the recognition measure and the respondent's self-rated memory, which were judged to have the best measurement qualities, a substantial part of these age differences can be accounted for by differences in sociodemographic composition between age groups, by cognitive functioning and physical health. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Stability of everyday memory in age-associated memory impairment: A longitudinal study.

Everyday memory performance was examined longitudinally in 2 groups of Ss meeting the diagnostic criteria for age-associated memory impairment (AAMI). One group of 157 participants in a drug trial for reversing memory loss in AAMI was tested over multiple sessions. The other group of 75 persons did not participate in a drug trial and thus was tested only twice. Both groups were retested for longitudinal follow-up about 4 yrs after initial session. Follow-up test performance remained fairly stable relative to initial performance in both groups. The drug study group showed large practice effects during the course of the drug studies, but these effects subsided after the drug studies' end. Implications regarding memory decline in the normal elderly and neuropsychological measurement issues are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Age differences in implicit memory: Fragmented object identification and category exemplar generation.

In a cross-sectional study of 164 participants aged 21 to 91, the authors examined age differences on two implicit tests, fragmented object identification (FOI) and category exemplar generation (CEG), and on tests of explicit memory, attention, and verbal fluency. FOI results revealed impaired perceptual skill learning in those over 60 and a decrease in perceptual priming across young, middle-aged, and older groups. CEG priming was impaired in those over 80. Regression analysis revealed explicit contamination of priming on both the FOI and CEG tests. Across the three implicit measures, age accounted for 4 to 13% of the variance when explicit memory was controlled. Semantic fluency predicted CEG priming, suggesting possible frontal lobe involvement on the test. Altogether, results indicate that age has a small but reliable influence on implicit memory. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Modeling intrusions and correct recall in episodic memory: Adult age differences in encoding of list context.

A model for correct recall and intrusions in cued recall of word lists is introduced. Intrusions are false responses that were correct in an earlier list. The model assumes 3 exclusive states for memory traces after encoding: with a list tag (i.e., with information about list origin), without list tags, and missing. Across lists, a trace can lose its list tag or its content. For retrieval, an optimal strategy of response selection was assumed. Younger and older laboratory-trained mnemonists participated in 2 experiments in which recall of permutations of a single word list across a single set of cues was held constant with individually adjusted presentation times. With correct recall equated to younger adults, older adults were more susceptible to intrusions. Age differences were restricted to model parameters estimating the probability of generation of list tags. Alternative accounts of age differences in context memory are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)