Older and younger adult memory for health appointment information: Implications for automated telephone messaging design

The authors examined how the organization and presentation modality of auto mated telephone messages influence older and younger adult memory for appoi ntment information. Older and younger adults organized appointment informat ion in similar ways, suggesting that they share a schema for attending appo intments (Experiment 1). Older and younger adults' memories for messages im proved when these messages were compatible with this schema. Longer message s were remembered less accurately than shorter messages (Experiment 2). Sch ema-compatible organization and length had similar effects on memory for pr inted versus spoken messages (Experiment 3). Thus, messages organized in te rms of what clients know about appointments may enhance the impact of autom ated messaging systems on older and younger adults' appointment attendances .