Effectiveness of the number-consonant mnemonic for retention of numeric material in community-dwelling older adults.
The effectiveness of the number-consonant mnemonic for immediate recall and long-term retention of 4 6-digit lock combinations was examined in 36 volunteers who were 60 years old or more. Participants were randomized into either an experimental condition (n = 17) that received training in the number-consonant mnemonic or a group that received placebo training only (n = 19). There were no differences between groups for number recall at posttest. At 3 days a modest difference appeared, favoring the experimental condition, which became highly significant at the 7-day telephone follow-up. This finding suggests that a distinguishing characteristic of the number-consonant mnemonic may be the extent to which it facilitates the maintenance of learned numeric material in memory over time.
Hill
R D
RD
Department of Educational Psychology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City 84112, USA. bhill@gse.utah.edu
Campbell
B W
BW
Foxley
D
D
Lindsay
S
S
D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000523:psychology*; D004493:Education; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011584:Psychology / Q000379:methods*; D012153:Retention, Psychology; D016896:Treatment Outcome