AGE-DIFFERENCES IN CONVERSATIONAL SOURCE MONITORING

The present investigation simulated a group conversation in which part icipants asked( inquirer) and answered (responder) questions, as well as listened to others exchange information. Source (inquirer; responde r) identification accuracy was evaluated immediately or after 1 week. Older adults were less adept at source identification, although this d ifference was reduced with personal (Experiment 2) rather than categor ical (Experiment 1) topics. The age difference was independent of expl icit memory (cued recall and recognition), suggesting that memory for source and information are separable. Older adults were comparable to younger adults in responder identification but worse at inquirer ident ification. Responder identification was better than inquirer identific ation, with the latter dropping to chance at 1 week. Source identifica tion was most accurate when participants were in the responder role; t here was little difference between the inquirer and listener roles.