Age, pacing, and imagery in paired-associate learning.

18 males and 36 females in each of 2 age groups (mean ages, 29 and 69 yrs) learned highly concrete noun pairs. Anticipation and presentation intervals were manipulated (2 vs 6 sec), and there were no, E-provided, or self-generated imagery instructions. Sex of S and presentation interval had no significant effects. Both age groups benefited from imagery instructions, especially self-generated imagery. With self-generated imagery and the longer anticipation time, the old performed as well as the young; with no-imagery instructions and the shorter anticipation time, the young performed as poorly as the old. With the other combinations of instructions and intervals, the young outperformed the old. Thus, the young needed the longer anticipation time only in the no-imagery condition, but the old needed it to benefit the imagery intructions. It is concluded that the old are as capable as the young of generating and using imagery when so instructed, although the old require a longer retrieval time. (17 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)