Cognitive interventions to improve face-name recall: The role of personality trait differences.

To explore the relationship of personality trait differences to the ability of older adults to benefit from an intervention to improve face–name recall, 3 previously validated methods of intervention were used in conjunction with the NEO Personality Inventory. Ss were 156 community-dwelling elderly. The 3 treatment conditions all included a standard imagery mnemonic for remembering names and faces but differed in the method of nonmnemonic training (imagery, relaxation, and imagery?+?judgment) administered before teaching the mnemonic device. As in prior studies, there was an overall improvement in the number of face–name pairs remembered after the intervention. In the group of Ss as a whole, Ss who scored higher on the openness factor of the NEO scored significantly higher on all face–name outcome measures regardless of training conditions. Furthermore, there was a significant interaction between treatment condition and scores on Subfactor O1 (fantasy) of the openness factor. Higher scores on the fantasy subfactor were related to greater improvements in the imagery condition. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)