title: The development of explicit memory for basic perceptual features.
abstract: In three experiments with 164 individuals between 4 and 80 years old, we examined age-related changes in explicit memory for three perceptual features--item identity, color, and location. In Experiments 1-2, feature recognition was assessed in an incidental learning, gamelike task resembling the game Concentration. In Experiment 3, feature recognition was assessed using a pencil-and-paper task after intentional learning instructions. The form of the explicit memory function across the life span varied with the particular perceptual feature tested and the type of task. Item recognition was excellent at all ages but was significantly poorer for older adults than children, color recognition peaked in late childhood on the gamelike task, and location recognition peaked in early adulthood on the pencil-and-paper task. These findings indicate that performance on explicit memory tests is not a consistent inverted U-shaped function of age across various features. Explicit memory performance depends on what is measured and how. Because explicit memory typically reflects a composite of different features, age-related changes in explicit memory will not necessarily correspond to the function for any single one.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ 08854-8020, USA.
authors.forename: Michelle
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gulya
authors.forename: Alba
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rossi-George
authors.forename: Kristin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hartshorn
authors.forename: Aurora
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Vieira
authors.forename: Carolyn
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Rovee-Collier
authors.forename: Marcia K
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Johnson
authors.forename: Barbara L
authors.initials: BL
authors.lastname: Chalfonte
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory / Q000502:physiology*; D010465:Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D021641:Recognition, Psychology / Q000502:physiology