title: Does differential strategy use account for age-related deficits in working-memory performance?
abstract: The strategy-deficit hypothesis states that age differences in the use of effective strategies contribute to age-related deficits in working memory span performance. To evaluate this hypothesis, strategy use was measured with set-by-set strategy reports during the Reading Span task (Experiments 1 and 2) and the Operation Span task (Experiment 2). Individual differences in the reported use of effective strategies accounted for substantial variance in span performance. In contrast to the strategy-deficit hypothesis, however, young and older adults reported using the same proportion of normatively effective strategies on both span tasks. Measures of processing speed accounted for a substantial proportion of the age-related variance in span performance. Thus, although use of normatively effective strategies accounts for individual differences in span performance, age differences in effective strategy use cannot explain the age-related variance in that performance.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Kent State University, Kent, OH 44242-0001, USA. jdunlosk@kent.edu
authors.forename: Heather
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Bailey
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Dunlosky
authors.forename: Christopher
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hertzog
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000523:psychology*; D001288:Attention; D032882:Comprehension; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007092:Imagination; D008297:Male; D008570:Memory, Short-Term; D008875:Middle Aged; D010153:Paired-Associate Learning; D011214:Practice, Psychological; D011930:Reaction Time; D012153:Retention, Psychology; D014705:Verbal Behavior; D055815:Young Adult