title: Memory for Allergies and Health Foods: How Younger and Older Adults Strategically Remember Critical Health Information.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  While older adults often display memory deficits, with practice, they can sometimes selectively remember valuable information at the expense of less value information. We examined age-related differences and similarities in memory for health-related information under conditions where some information was critical to remember.
  
  
  METHODS
  In Experiment 1, participants studied 3 lists of allergens, ranging in severity from 0 (not a health risk) to 10 (potentially fatal), with the instruction that it was particularly important to remember items to which a fictional relative was most severely allergic. After each list, participants received feedback regarding their recall of the high-value allergens. Experiment 2 examined memory for health benefits, presenting foods that were potentially beneficial to the relative's immune system.
  
  
  RESULTS
  While younger adults exhibited better overall memory for the allergens, both age groups in Experiment 1 developed improved selectivity across the lists, with no evident age differences in severe allergen recall by List 2. Selectivity also developed in Experiment 2, although age differences for items of high health benefit were present.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results have implications for models of selective memory in older age, and for how aging influences the ability to strategically remember important information within health-related contexts.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles. cmiddlebrooks@g.ucla.edu.
authors.forename: Catherine D
authors.initials: CD
authors.lastname: Middlebrooks
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Weber State University, Ogden.
authors.forename: Shannon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: McGillivray
authors.affiliation: Research Center for Social Design Engineering, Kochi University of Technology, Japan. Department of Psychology, University of Reading.
authors.forename: Kou
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Murayama
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles.
authors.forename: Alan D
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Castel
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000523:psychology*; D000485:Allergens / Q000009:adverse effects*; D000707:Anaphylaxis / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000523:psychology; D001288:Attention; D005260:Female; D005512:Food Hypersensitivity / Q000523:psychology*; D006266:Health Education; D057220:Health Literacy; D006801:Humans; D006967:Hypersensitivity / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000523:psychology*; D008297:Male; D008569:Memory Disorders / Q000523:psychology*; D011939:Mental Recall; D008875:Middle Aged; D018570:Risk Assessment; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D000485:Allergens
keywords: Aging; Health; Memory; Selectivity; Value-directed remembering