FEATURE MEMORY AND BINDING IN YOUNG AND OLDER ADULTS

Intact memory for complex events requires not only memory for particul ar features (e.g., item, location, color, size), but also intact cogni tive processes for binding the features together. Binding provides the memorial experience that certain features belong together. The experi ments presented here were designed to explicate these as potentially s eparable sources of age-associated changes in complex memory-namely, t o investigate the possibility that age-related changes in memory for c omplex events arise from deficits in (1) memory for the kinds of infor mation that comprise complex memories, (2) the processes necessary for binding this information into complex memories, or (3) both of these components. Young and older adults were presented with colored items l ocated within an array. Relative to young adults, older adults had a s pecific and disproportionate deficit in recognition memory for locatio n, but not for item or for color. Also, older adults consistently demo nstrated poorer recognition memory for bound information, especially w hen all features were acquired intentionally. These feature and bindin g deficits separately contribute to what have been described as older adults' context and source memory impairments.