INFLUENCES OF INTENTIONALITY AT ENCODING AND RETRIEVAL ON MEMORY IN ADULTHOOD AND OLD-AGE

This research investigated whether different memory functions are diff erentially affected by the adult aging process. Four groups of normal adults (18-35, 60-68, 69-78, and 79-91 years of age) were presented wi th a set of pictures of faces with first names and surnames. Subjects were instructed to memorize the faces and the surnames for subsequent memory tests. Memory performance was assessed in four ways: stem compl etion of surnames; recognition of faces; recognition of surnames; and recognition of first names. These memory tests varied in terms of inte ntionality at encoding and retrieval, The stem completion task involve d intention at encoding, bur not at retrieval, and thus served as a me asure of implicit memory. With respect to the three explicit memory ta sks, recognition of faces and surnames involved intention at both enco ding and retrieval, whereas recognition of first names involved intent ion at retrieval, but not at encoding. Results indicated no age-relate d differences in implicit memory, as assessed by the stem completion t est. In addition, there was an age-related deficit in recognition effa ces and surnames, although there were no age-related differences in re cognition of first names. The overall pattern of results suggests that age-related deficits in memory may be most likely to occur when there are demands of conscious mental activity at encoding and retrieval.