title: The Effect of Prior Task Success on Older Adults' Memory Performance: Examining the Influence of Different Types of Task Success.
abstract: Negative aging stereotypes can lead older adults to perform poorly on memory tests. Yet, memory performance can be improved if older adults have a single successful experience on a cognitive test prior to participating in a memory experiment (Geraci & Miller, 2013, Psychology and Aging, 28, 340-345). The current study examined the effects of different types of prior task experience on subsequent memory performance.
  
  
  
  Before participating in a verbal free recall experiment, older adults in Experiment 1 successfully completed either a verbal or a visual cognitive task or no task. In Experiment 2, they successfully completed either a motor task or no task before participating in the free recall experiment.
  
  
  
  Results from Experiment 1 showed that relative to control (no prior task), participants who had prior success, either on a verbal or a visual task, had better subsequent recall performance. Experiment 2 showed that prior success on a motor task, however, did not lead to a later memory advantage relative to control.
  
  
  
  These findings demonstrate that older adults' memory can be improved by a successful prior task experience so long as that experience is in a cognitive domain.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Psychology , Texas A&M University, College Station , Texas , USA.
authors.forename: Lisa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Geraci
authors.affiliation: b Department of Psychology , Brandeis University , Waltham , Massachusetts , USA.
authors.forename: Matthew L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Hughes
authors.affiliation: c Department of Psychology , South Dakota State University , Brookings , South Dakota , USA.
authors.forename: Tyler M
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Miller
authors.affiliation: a Department of Psychology , Texas A&M University, College Station , Texas , USA.
authors.forename: Ross L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: De Forrest
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory; D011939:Mental Recall; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis