Flexibility and memory: Are the elderly really less flexible?

Abstract

All subjects were given two types of semantic encoding tasks; one encoding task directed attention to an item's thematic role (e.g., igloo was presented in the context of other items from the "North Pole" theme) and the other encoding task directed attention to the same item's role in some taxonomy (e.g., igloo was presented with other items from the dwelling taxonomy). Subjects were tested for free recall of the items followed by cued recall, the cues being theme and taxonomy labels. Young adults and middle-aged adults were more flexible retrieving items than older adults. They often switched modes during retrieval, recalling a few members from a theme and using the terminal item as a "pivot" to recall a few items from the taxonomy to which it also belonged. Flexibility was correlated with recall at each age; however, aging was associated with a less flexible style of retrieval.

Episodic remembering in young adults, 73‐year‐olds, and 82‐year‐olds

“…This group perfomed at the highest level in the organizational instructions + cued recall (01 + CR) task, the standard instructions + cued recall (SI + CR) and the organizational instructions + free recall (01 + FR) tasks came next, and the lowest performance was observed for the standard instructions + free recall (SI + FR) task. This utilization of compensatory task conditions in the 73-year-olds is also on a par with previous findings showing that adult age differences in memory decrease as the amount of contextual support increases (e.g., Ceci & Tabor, 1981;Erber et al, 1980;Smith, 1977). The group of 82 year olds, however, exhibited a somewhat different pattern of data.…”

Drawing to Remember: External Support of Older Adults’ Eyewitness Performance

“…In an eyewitness setting an interviewer has no option but to assist the rememberer to mentally reinstate the context by providing a set of non-suggestive, programmatic cues, presented similarly to every interviewee (the interviewer not having been present at the event, and having little idea as to what might constitute an effective retrieval cue). The benefits of the Sketch MRC may stem from the fact that participants are self-initiating, and as such are providing the most efficient and salient cues to further remembering ([67], [13]), although as yet it is unclear how this might affect recall of particular types of information. Future research should seek to investigate this.…”

“…An additional benefit may arise from encouraging witnesses to access their own contextual retrieval cues through Sketch MRC rather than relying on retrieval cues provided by the interviewer. Indeed, age differences are reduced in tasks that provide efficient cues at retrieval ([13], [44], [45]), that is, cues actually associated with the encoded event.…”

Understanding How Prior Knowledge Influences Memory in Older Adults

“…Age-related increases in false recognition were observed only when older adults could bring their prior knowledge to bear, namely, when the ambiguous figures had received familiar labels at study (see Simons et al, 2005, for converging evidence from semantic dementia patients). The literature is full of examples similar to this one, showing that prior knowledge can influence memory to a degree that is no longer facilitative (e.g., Arbuckle et al, 1994;Botwinick, 1984;Ceci & Tabor, 1981;Hess, McGee, Woodburn, & Bolstad, 1998;Labouvie-Vief & Schell, 1982;Radvansky, Copeland, & von Hippel, 2010).…”