Adult Age Differences in Storage and Retrieval Processes in the Retention of Related Sentences.

N

15

Age Differences; Comparative Analysis; Learning Processes; Older Adults; Organization; Recall (Psychology); Retention (Psychology); Speeches; Young Adults

In the present study, storage and retrieval organization were contrasted in 50 elderly and 50 young adults. It was expected that the older subjects would recall less material than younger adults as a result of poorer organization in long-term memory storage. The learning material consisted of 25 related fictional "historical" sentences which could be organized into three conceptual types, five countries, five decades, and five topics. The results of the study indicated apparent age differences in storage ability and large differences in retrieval cue retention and recall; however, it was not possible for the authors to distinguish clearly between storage and retrieval processes, a distinction difficult to make on the theoretical level as well. They summarized that the elderly, who stored less material, could not be expected to recall associations between cues and events on sentences that were not formed in storage. (Author/PC)

1975

ED099752