Mediators of age-related differences in recollective experience in recognition memory.
This study examined states of awareness with the Remember/Know paradigm during verbal recognition memory in young and old adults. Following the presentation of a word list, subjects undertook a recognition test and indicated whether they could consciously recollect its prior occurrence (R) or recognize it on some other basis, without conscious recollection (K). In this individual-difference approach we also incorporated various processing-speed and working-memory measures to study the link between aging, states of awareness and processing resources. The results revealed that, compared to younger adults, older adults exhibited a decline in the amount of R responses during the recognition test whereas the amount of K responses did not change. Structural equation modeling indicated that a slower processing speed associated with a limited working-memory capacity is a key to explaining age-related variance in conscious recollection. The findings offer further support for the distinction between remembering and knowing and for the processing-resources hypothesis of aging.
Clarys
David
D
UPRES 2114, Vieillissement et Développement adulte, Université de Tours, France. clarys@univ-tours.fr
Isingrini
Michel
M
Gana
Kamel
K
D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000523:psychology*; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001364:Awareness; D005602:France; D006801:Humans; D016013:Likelihood Functions; D008570:Memory, Short-Term; D011939:Mental Recall; D008875:Middle Aged; D011930:Reaction Time; D021641:Recognition, Psychology