Inhibitory deficits in older adults: list-method directed forgetting revisited.
In list-method directed forgetting, participants are cued to intentionally forget a previously studied list while remembering a subsequently presented 2nd list. Results from prior research are inconclusive on whether older adults show deficits in this type of task. In 3 experiments, the authors reexamined the issue and compared younger and older adults' responsiveness to the forget cue. Across the experiments, the forget cue was varied within and between participants, the 2 lists were unrelated and related to each other, and recall of the lists was required simultaneously and successively. In none of the 3 experiments did any age-related difference in directed forgetting performance emerge. List-method directed forgetting is assumed to reflect retrieval inhibition. The present results thus challenge the proposal of a general inhibitory deficit in older adults' memory performance.
Zellner
Martina
M
Department of Experimental Psychology, Regensburg University, Regensburg, Germany.
Bäuml
Karl-Heinz
KH
D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003463:Cues; D005260:Female; D015577:Geriatric Assessment; D006801:Humans; D007266:Inhibition, Psychological; D008297:Male; D008569:Memory Disorders / Q000503:physiopathology*; D011939:Mental Recall / Q000502:physiology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D010153:Paired-Associate Learning / Q000502:physiology; D012153:Retention, Psychology / Q000502:physiology*