title: Older adults can suppress unwanted memories when given an appropriate strategy.
abstract: Memory suppression refers to the ability to exclude distracting memories from conscious awareness, and this ability can be assessed with the think/no-think paradigm. Recent research with older adults has provided evidence suggesting both intact and deficient memory suppression. The present studies seek to understand the conditions contributing to older adults' ability to suppress memories voluntarily. We report 2 experiments indicating that the specificity of the think/no-think task instructions contributes to older adults' suppression success: When older adults receive open-ended instructions that require them to develop a retrieval suppression strategy on their own, they show diminished memory suppression compared with younger adults. Conversely, when older adults receive focused instructions directing them to a strategy thought to better isolate inhibitory control, they show suppression-induced forgetting similar to that exhibited by younger adults. Younger adults demonstrate memory suppression regardless of the specificity of the instructions given, suggesting that the ability to select a successful suppression strategy spontaneously may be compromised in older adults. If so, this deficit may be associated with diminished control over unwanted memories in naturalistic settings if impeded strategy development reduces the successful deployment of inhibitory control.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Boston College.
authors.forename: Brendan D
authors.initials: BD
authors.lastname: Murray
authors.affiliation: MRC Cognition and Brain Science Unit.
authors.forename: Michael C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Anderson
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Boston College.
authors.forename: Elizabeth A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Kensinger
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000523:psychology*; D001364:Awareness; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007266:Inhibition, Psychological; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory; D013850:Thinking; D055815:Young Adult