Aging and memory for action events: The role of familiarity.

Abstract

Two experiments with young and elderly adults explored age-related memory differences for performed action events varying in familiarity. Memory for similar items encoded verbally was also assessed. The findings demonstrated that type of encoding and item-familiarity influenced immediate as well as delayed free recall in both age groups. Highest recall performances were found for familiar performed items. Both factors affected memory performance separately and did not compensate for each other, either in immediate or in delayed free recall. These findings held true regardless of age. Performed actions were especially resistant against forgetting* indicating that, besides the amount of items encoded, performing while encoding especially enhances the retention of knowledge. Recognition memory also varied with type of encoding. Age-reiated memory differences were found in all free recall tests irrespective of item familiarity and type of encoding, favoring young adults. No age-related memory differences were found in the recognition test. Because of possible ceiling effects, this finding must be treated with care.

Acting or listening: Adult age differences in source recall of enacted and nonenacted statements

“…The observed age differences both in the enacted and nonenacted conditions are consistent with past research (Conway & Dewhurst, 1995;Nilsson & Craik, 1990; see also Cohen et al, 1987;Knopf & Niedhardt, 1989). Significant age effects were found for both item and source recall, with source memory being more age-related than item memory.…”

“…It is well documented that enacted tasks produce better memory performance than nonenacted tasks (Bfickman & Nilsson, 1984Cohen, 1981Cohen, , 1983Engelkamp & Zimmer, 1984Kormi-Nouri, 1995;Kormi-Nouri, Nilsson, & B~ickman, 1994). Past aging research on the role of enactment in episodic memory tasks has revealed mixed results, with some studies showing no differences between young and older participants in memory for performed actions (Bfickman & Nilsson, 1984, others showing small age differences (Nyberg, Nilsson, & B~ickman, 1992), and still others showing large differences (Cohen, Sandler, & Schroeder, 1987;Knopf & Niedhardt, 1989;Nilsson & Craik, 1990). Thus, one of the objectives of this study was to further clarify the relation between age and action memory.…”

A helping hand with language learning: teaching French vocabulary with gesture

“…Both Nilsson, Cohen and Nyberg (1989) and Knopf and Neidhardt (1989) note that SPT effects only last in the short term, after which enhanced SPT or verbal learning attrition progresses at the same rate. Ellis (1995) considers that for effective productive vocabulary learning, the keyword technique must be complemented with repetition practice.…”

Effect of Emotion and Type of Encoding on Memory for Actions: Verbal and Subject-Performed Tasks

“…The term “subject-performed task” (SPT), as opposed to “verbal task” (VT), is used to refer to the tasks exploring this effect. Numerous studies have already evidenced the enactment effect through different experimental protocols with young participants, regardless of the retention interval [3], the familiarity of actions [4], or the use of real or imagined objects [5], thereby underlining its robustness. In addition, it is also described as a robust effect in ageing [6, 7].…”