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)