title: The attentional demands of encoding and retrieval in younger and older adults: 1. Evidence from divided attention costs.
abstract: Four studies examined the effects of divided attention in younger and older adults. Attention was divided at encoding or retrieval in free recall (Experiment 1), cued recall (Experiments 2 and 3), and recognition (Experiment 4). Dividing attention at encoding disrupted memory performance equally for the two age groups; by contrast, for both age groups, dividing attention at retrieval had little or no effect on memory performance. Secondary task reaction times (RTs) were slowed to a greater extent for the older adults than for the younger adults, especially at retrieval. Age-related differences in RT costs at retrieval were largest in free recall, smaller in cued recall, and smallest in recognition. These results provide evidence for an age-related increase in the attentional demands of encoding and retrieval.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. nicole@psych.toronto.edu
authors.forename: N D
authors.initials: ND
authors.lastname: Anderson
authors.forename: F I
authors.initials: FI
authors.lastname: Craik
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Naveh-Benjamin
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000523:psychology*; D001288:Attention; D003463:Cues; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011939:Mental Recall; D008875:Middle Aged; D011340:Problem Solving; D011597:Psychomotor Performance; D011930:Reaction Time; D012153:Retention, Psychology; D014706:Verbal Learning