Adult age differences in memory for routes: effects of instruction and spatial diagram.
Free-recall and multiple-choice measures of memory for landmarks, sequential order, turns, and route configurations were obtained from younger and older adults after they viewed slides of 2 overlapping routes. Instructions focused attention on either the contents of the slides or on the course of the path; a control condition provided no orientational instructions. Half the subjects viewed maplike diagrams of the joint spatial configuration. Age interacted with instruction only for multiple-choice tests of landmark memory. Age interacted with diagram for each of the other 3 route memory components, although the generality of this interaction across instruction condition depended on whether free-recall or multiple-choice tests were used. The results suggest that route memory may involve both scene and layout representation, which may be differentially sensitive to age and presentational variables.
Lipman
P D
PD
National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, Maryland.
Caplan
L J
LJ
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000523:psychology*; D001288:Attention; D003210:Concept Formation; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011939:Mental Recall; D008875:Middle Aged; D009949:Orientation; D012931:Social Environment; D013028:Space Perception; D014796:Visual Perception