ONE-DAY RETENTION OF EYEBLINK CLASSICAL-CONDITIONING AND VERBAL FREE-RECALL IN YOUNG AND OLDER ADULTS

The aims of this study were to: (a) investigate retention of a declara tive and nondeclarative task in the same young and older adults, (b) a ssess self reports of awareness of learning during the nondeclarative task (eyeblink classical conditioning [EBCC]), and (c) examine two con secutive sessions of EBCC including one-day retest performance in EBCC paradigms that are more or less optimal for older adults. Eighty adul ts (40 young, 40 older) participated in two consecutive daily sessions of EBCC and a declarative task, the California Verbal Learning Test ( CVLT). EBCC was performed by half the subjects using a 400 msec delay and half using a 750 msec delay EBCC paradigm. Age differences were ob served in one-day retention for both the CVLT and EBCC. Young adults h ad more insight into EBCC performance than did older adults. There wer e large age differences in performance on both EBCC paradigms in both daily sessions, and performance did not improve in Session 2. EBCC is a form of nondeclarative memory that shows age-related impairment in r etention.