title: Aging, culture, and memory for categorically processed information.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Literature on cross-cultural differences in cognition suggests that categorization, as an information processing and organization strategy, was more often used by Westerners than by East Asians, particularly for older adults. This study examines East-West cultural differences in memory for categorically processed items and sources in young and older Canadians and native Chinese with a conceptual source memory task (Experiment 1) and a reality monitoring task (Experiment 2).
  
  
  METHODS
  In Experiment 1, participants encoded photographic faces of their own ethnicity that were artificially categorized into GOOD or EVIL characters and then completed a source memory task in which they identified faces as old-GOOD, old-EVIL, or new. In Experiment 2, participants viewed a series of words, each followed either by a corresponding image (i.e., SEEN) or by a blank square within which they imagined an image for the word (i.e., IMAGINED). At test, they decided whether the test words were old-SEEN, old-IMAGINED, or new.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In general, Canadians outperformed Chinese in memory for categorically processed information, an effect more pronounced for older than for young adults.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Extensive exercise of culturally preferred categorization strategy differentially benefits Canadians and reduces their age group differences in memory for categorically processed information.
authors: Correspondence should be addressed to Lixia Yang, JOR918, Department of Psychology, Ryerson University, 350 Victoria Street, Toronto, ON, M5B 2K3, Canada. E-mail: lixiay@ryerson.ca.
authors: Lixia
authors: L
authors: Yang
authors: Wenfeng
authors: W
authors: Chen
authors: Andy H
authors: AH
authors: Ng
authors: Xiaolan
authors: X
authors: Fu
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D002170:Canada / Q000208:ethnology; D002681:China / Q000208:ethnology; D003210:Concept Formation / Q000502:physiology*; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D003469:Culture; D005145:Face; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory / Q000502:physiology*; D011939:Mental Recall / Q000502:physiology; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D021641:Recognition, Psychology / Q000502:physiology; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Aging; Categorization; Culture; Memory; Reality monitoring; Source memory.