Schema-based Retrieval Processes in Young and Older Adults

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Through two experiments we examined the extent to which the memory performance of different-aged adults was dependent upon the conceptual relationship between the to-be-remembered information and the perspective adopted at retrieval. In both studies, young and old adults read a story from one of two perspectives. They then recalled the story twice: first from the perspective taken at reading and then again from the alternative perspective. It was found that memory performance in both age groups was related to the relevance of the story information to the recall perspective. In addition, the interaction between recall perspective and the relevance of the story units was similar across age groups. This suggests that young and older adults are similarly dependent upon schema-based relations in aiding recall, at least when the memory task has a heavy emphasis on conceptually driven retrieval processes.