AGE-DIFFERENCES VERSUS DEVELOPMENT ACROSS AGE - A CROSS-SECTIONAL ANDA LONGITUDINAL-STUDY ASSESSING MEMORY DEVELOPMENT IN LATER ADULTHOOD

This study examines the development of episodic memory in later adulth ood and old age in a combined cross-sectional and longitudinal design. 124 normal aging subjects, aged 50-87 years, representing four age gr oups (M(1) = 53.65 years, M(2) = 60.60 years, M(3) = 68.44 years, M(4) = 75.83 years) participated in a cross-sectional study. Seven years l ater a retest was done in which 70% of the original sample again parti cipated. Significant differences between the cross sectional and the l ongitudinal results were found, with the latter showing the more sever e decline in memory performances. Moreover, the age decline occurred e arlier in the longitudinal study. Cohort differences account for these differences between the cross-sectional and longitudinal findings, fa voring subjects of earlier-born cohorts.