Age Differences In Recognition Research Articles

Are There Age Differences in Consolidated Episodic Memory?

ABSTRACTBackground/Study Context: While most aging research on memory uses a retention interval of one hour or less, episodic consolidation takes longer (e.g., 6–24 hours for synaptic consolidation). In three experiments, we examined age differences in recall followed by recognition in which the retention interval was varied in younger and older adults.Methods: In Experiment 1 (n = 24 for both age groups), zero-, 1- and 24-hour retention intervals were used for recall for all participants, and a 24-hour retention interval was used for recognition. In Experiment 2 (n = 24 for both age groups), just a 24-hour retention interval was used. In Experiment 3 (n = 20 for both age groups), a within-subjects design was used in which participants recalled one word list after one hour and again after 24 hours, and recalled another word list just after 24 hours (with recognition for both conditions after the 24-hour recall).Results: In Experiment 1, older adults recalled fewer words at both the 1- and 24-hour retention intervals, but the magnitude of the age difference did not differ. In Experiment 2 (just 24-hour retention interval), there were no age differences in recall. In Experiment 3, in the two-recall condition, older adults showed lower recall at both 1-hour and 24-hour retention intervals (but the magnitude of the age difference remained constant across retention interval). In the single-recall just 24-hour retention condition, there were no age differences. There were no age differences in recognition in any of the three experiments.Conclusion: These results suggest that recall declines for a 24-hour retention interval relative to a zero or one-hour retention interval (Experiments 1 and 3) for both age groups. However, when the first recall attempt occurs after a 24-hour retention interval, there are no age differences. These replicated results suggest that older adults do not benefit as much as younger adults from pre-consolidated rehearsal, but that rehearsal-based age differences do not increase in magnitude from the last rehearsal to memory consolidation. Furthermore, (along with), the present results indicate that there are no age differences in recall when the first recall attempt occurs after a long retention interval – when memory consolidation is likely to have occurred before the first retrieval attempt.

The role of stimulus complexity and salience in memory for face-name associations in healthy adults: Friend or foe?

The associative deficit hypothesis (ADH) posits that age-related differences in recognition of associations are disproportionately larger than age differences in item recognition because of age-related difficulty in binding and retrieval of two or more pieces of information in a memory episode. This proposition rests on the observation of disproportionately greater age differences in memory for associations than in recognition of individual items. Although ADH has been supported in experiments with verbal and nonverbal stimuli, the effects of task or stimulus characteristics on its generalizability remain unclear. In a series of experiments, we examined how salience and variability of face stimuli presented in face-name pairs affect age differences in recognition of items and associations. We found that a disproportionate age-related deficit in the recognition of face-name associations emerges when face stimuli are more complex, salient, variable, and distinctive, but not when standardized faces appear within minimal visual context. These findings indicate that age-related associative memory deficits may stem at least in part from age differences in use of stimulus characteristics for contextual support. (PsycINFO Database Record

Gist and Generalization in Young and Older Adults' Causal Learning.

To investigate age differences in gist-based causal learning. Young and older adults learned to predict whether eating foods from each of 6 categories was or was not followed by sickness. Experience with the categories was varied by presenting 5 exemplars of a category in only one of 2 training phases (small categories) or by presenting 5 exemplars of a category in the first phase and an additional 5 exemplars in the second phase (large categories). Trained and novel exemplars from all categories appeared in subsequent causal judgment and recognition tests. There were no age differences in causal judgments for old exemplars or in generalization of causal associations to novel exemplars. For both groups, causal generalization was more successful and recognition was less successful for exemplars from large categories. There was no age difference in recognition for large categories, but older adults performed more poorly than young adults for small categories. Older adults resemble young adults in their ability to induce unseen category features from presented exemplars, acquire causal associations for these gist representations, and generalize this knowledge to new exemplars. However, they continue to rely on these gist-based representations for memory discrimination, whereas young adults use both category and individuating features of cues.

Emotional faces in context: Age differences in recognition accuracy and scanning patterns.

Although age-related declines in facial expression recognition are well documented, previous research has relied mostly on isolated faces devoid of context. The authors investigated the effects of context on age differences in recognition of facial emotions and in visual scanning patterns of emotional faces. While their eye movements were monitored, younger and older participants viewed facial expressions (i.e., anger, disgust) in contexts that were emotionally congruent, incongruent, or neutral to the facial expression to be identified. Both age groups had the highest recognition rates of facial expressions in the congruent context, followed by the neutral context, and recognition rates in the incongruent context were the lowest. These context effects were more pronounced for older adults. Compared to younger adults, older adults exhibited a greater benefit from congruent contextual information, regardless of facial expression. Context also influenced the pattern of visual scanning characteristics of emotional faces in a similar manner across age groups. In addition, older adults initially attended more to context overall. Our data highlight the importance of considering the role of context in understanding emotion recognition in adulthood.

Age-related differences in associative memory depend on the types of associations that are formed

ABSTRACT Building on well-established findings of age-related decline in associative memory, we examined whether the magnitude of age differences depends on the types of associations that are formed. Specifically, because of predominant age-related changes in the hippocampus, we expected to find larger age differences in recognition of between-domain than within-domain associations. Twenty younger and 20 older healthy adults were given two associative recognition tests, using face–name and word–word pairs, that were matched for difficulty level. As hypothesized, a three-way interaction indicated that, relative to item recognition, age differences in associative recognition were greater for between-domain face–name associations than for within-domain word–word associations. This dissociation is consistent with the idea that the hippocampus plays a prominent role in binding information received from distal neocortical regions. The discussion focuses on the roles of recollection and familiarity in supporting associative memory as well as implications for the remediation of age-related memory decline.

The effect of age on memory for emotional faces.

Prior studies of emotion suggest that young adults should have enhanced memory for negative faces and that this enhancement should be reduced in older adults. Several studies have not shown these effects but were conducted with procedures different from those used with other emotional stimuli. In this study, researchers examined age differences in recognition of faces with emotional or neutral expressions, using trial-unique stimuli, as is typically done with other types of emotional stimuli. They also assessed the influence of personality traits and mood on memory. Enhanced recognition for negative faces was found in young adults but not in older adults. Recognition of faces was not influenced by mood or personality traits in young adults, but lower levels of extraversion and better emotional sensitivity predicted better negative face memory in older adults. These results suggest that negative expressions enhance memory for faces in young adults, as negative valence enhances memory for words and scenes. This enhancement is absent in older adults, but memory for emotional faces is modulated in older adults by personality traits that are relevant to emotional processing.

Age differences in recognition of emotion in lexical stimuli and facial expressions.

Age differences in emotion recognition from lexical stimuli and facial expressions were examined in a cross-sectional sample of adults aged 18 to 85 (N = 357). Emotion-specific response biases differed by age: Older adults were disproportionately more likely to incorrectly label lexical stimuli as happiness, sadness, and surprise and to incorrectly label facial stimuli as disgust and fear. After these biases were controlled, findings suggested that older adults were less accurate at identifying emotions than were young adults, but the pattern differed across emotions and task types. The lexical task showed stronger age differences than the facial task, and for lexical stimuli, age groups differed in accuracy for all emotional states except fear. For facial stimuli, in contrast, age groups differed only in accuracy for anger, disgust, fear, and happiness. Implications for age-related changes in different types of emotional processing are discussed.

Perceived contingency of skill and chance events: A developmental analysis.

Outcomes in skill-controlled activities are contingent on people's attributes and behavior. Outcomes of chance activities are inherently noncontingent. In this study, we explored age differences in recognition of this distinction between skill and chance. Kindergarteners, fourth graders, eighth graders, and college students took part in one game of chance and one game of skill. After each game, subjects predicted winnings of other players who differed in certain attributes (e.g., intelligence) and behavior (e.g., effort) that would influence only skill outcomes. Two developmental trends emerged: (a) On both chance and skill tasks, older subjects expected variations in attributes and behavior to have less impact on task outcomes than did younger subjects; and (b) older subjects were more adept at making predictions that reflected contingency of skill and noncontingency of chance. Kindergarteners showed no ability to make skillchance distinction. Fourth graders were aware of distinction at a gross qualitative level, but their predictions showed that they were unaware of some of most important logical implications of that distinction. Eighth graders and college students were aware of skill-chance distinction and most of its logical implications; yet their predictions revealed a lingering belief that chance outcomes could be influenced slightly by variations in people's attributes and behavior. This last finding is interpreted in light of Rosch's (Rosch & Mervis, 1975) model of category formation. To make accurate judgments about what we can and cannot control, we must accurately judge contingency of outcomes. If an outcome (e.g., rain, a roll of dice) is not contingent on people's behavior, then we will be unable to control it. (For more details on determinants of control, see Weisz & Stipek, 1982.) There is mounting evidence that such noncontingency is very difficult for young children to detect. Piaget (1930) reported that children younger than 6 or 7 years show primitive psychological causality, that is, the belief that any desire whatsoever can influence objects, belief in obedience of external things (p. 303). The young child, as described by Piaget, has illusion that diverse physical events in

Does recognition memory improve with age?

In order to test the hypothesis that recognition is a developmentally stable component of the memory system, age differences in recognition of faces were examined while controlling for nonmemory factors that might contribute to differences between the groups. Three groups of children (mean ages: 3 years, 4 months; 4 years, 9 months; and 6 years, 11 months) and a group of college students were tested on a recognition task and a similar matching task. The results indicated no change in recognition across the preschool years but an improvement from the later preschool period to the first grade. Further analyses indicated that this improvement was not due to changes in decision criteria or perceptual skills. These findings call into question the view that recognition is a developmentally invariant component of the memory system.

Age Differences in Recognition and Recall of Famous Names

Young (17 to 25 yr. of age) and old (61 to 82 yr. of age) subjects were tested for recognition and cued recall of famous surnames. Old subjects recalled and recognized more names than young subjects, and old subjects were less subject to recognition failure of recallable names than were young subjects. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that older subjects have a greater number and variety of both episodic and semantic associations with the surnames of famous people and therefore should be better able to recognize and recall these kinds of materials.

Depth of Processing and Recognition Memory Performance in First-, Third-, and Eighth-Graders

First, third, and eighth graders performed physical features, rhyming, category and sentence fit orienting activities to different words presented on a projector screen. Under the Type I incidental learning paradigm, the children’s recognition performance was tested after the orienting activity. The category and sentence activities yielded better recognition than either the physical or rhyming activities. Age differences in recognition were absent, the effect of the four orienting activities in recognition were absent, the effect of the four orienting activities did not vary as a function of age. The orienting responses yes-no effect on recognition supports a direct extension of the adult depth of processing data to children’s memory performance.