18, 20, 2 - DOES EXPERTISE IN SKAT COMPEN SATE FOR AGE-RELATED DEFICITS IN WORKING-MEMORY

Proceeding from tile results in expertise research according to which domain specific knowledge improves the storage component of working me mory it was analyzed whether age-related deficits in working memory co uld be reduced or compensated for by expertise. In the present study, 45 younger (mean age 27 years) and 42 older (mean age 68 years) adults participated, which were either experts or novices in skat. The stora ge and prccessing components of working memory were examined by differ ent memory tasks each one being realized with ''skat-related'' as well as with ''non-skat-related'' memory material. The storage capacity wa s additionally assessed by using digits as memory material. As expecte d age-related memory deficits were found for all memory tasks and all memory materials. Additionally, effects of expertise could be observed in both age groups with respect to the storage component of working m emory regardless of type of memory material. The results indicate that expertise in skat enhances memory capacity globally. Additional findi ngs from an instruction study support the hypothesis that skat experti se results in a domain-independent increase of working memory capacity .