Text memory and aging: Effect of reading perspective on recall of semantically related information

Abstract

IntroductionImpaired episodic remembering is one of the most salient features of cognitive aging. ObjectiveThe present study examined age-related differences in text memory, focusing on the extent and nature of these differences. MethodYoung (18–25years) and older (73–77years) adults were required to recall a descriptive text they had read after being given either a reading perspective (title or verbal instruction) or no indication. In the two experimental conditions, some idea units were important from a functional point of view, as they had to be selected to recall semantically related information better. Text information also had to be differentiated from general information. ResultsParticipants did not exhibit any real age-related difficulty taking account of a title or a verbal instruction before reading. Nevertheless, our results showed that the older adults had poorer text memory, and produced fewer idea units from the text they had read and more extratextual idea units. These units mainly took the form of inferences from the text, in the case of the young adults, but were based more on general knowledge of the world in the case of the older ones. ConclusionOverall, these results suggest that young and older individuals recall quantitatively and qualitatively different information. Taking individual performance profiles into consideration, results are discussed in the light of the inhibitory process impairment hypothesis. This cannot, however, explain all the observations we made. Another plausible explanation is that older adults are more prone to memory distortions, involving gist-based rather than verbatim retrieval, the former possibly compensating for the age-related decline in episodic memory. According to this hypothesis, our results may also highlight an age-related change in communicative goals.