Aging on the input versus output side: Theoretical implications of age-linked asymmetries between detecting versus retrieving orthographic information

This experiment tested for age-linked asymmetries predicted under Node Stru cture theory (NST; D. G. MacKay & D. M. Burke, 1990) between detecting vers us retrieving orthographic information. Older adults detected that briefly presented words were correctly spelled (e.g., endeavor) or misspelled (e.g. , endeavuor) as readily as did young adults. However, they were less able t han young adults to retrieve the correctly and incorrectly spelled words th at they had seen. These age-linked asymmetries were not due to educational factors, stimulus characteristics, sensory-level factors, task complexity, floor or ceiling effects, general slowing, or cohort-related activities, bu t they were consistent with NST predictions and with similar asymmetries in a wide range of other studies. By contrast, repetition deficits in detecti ng and retrieving repeated- versus unrepeated-letter misspellings (e.g., el derdly vs. elderkly) were symmetrical or equivalent in magnitude for young and older adults. Implications for a wide range of theories of cognitive ag ing and of repetition deficits are discussed.