Vieillissement et déficit mnémonique : effet des indices catégoriels et spécifiques dans le rappel d'une liste de mots

Abstract

Summary : Memory deficit and aging : The effect of categorical and specific cues on a word-list recall. The two experiments reported here investigated the question of age-related deficit in recall with the use of retrieval cues. In Exp. I, we have tried by using categorical cues to determine if the memory deficit of the elderly in recall memory tasks may be the result of a slowing down linked to the memory search processes. The results suggest that the elderly show a significant improvment in performance when presented at the output with the cues which were at hand on input. These observations tend to support the idea that aging is accompanied by a worsening of the memory search processes. In Exp. II, it is proposed that age related deficit in recall can also be determined by a decrease in the effectiveness of use of contextually specifie retrieval eues. The results show that the elderly seem capable of carrying out a functional specific encoding at input ; the difficultes in this situation again seem linked to a deficit in memory search processes. Key words : aging, cued recall, encoding, memory search.