Influences of age, performance, and item relatedness on verbatim and gist recall of verb-noun pairs

Age differences in adults' memory for performed actions (e.g., wave hand) a re sometimes smaller than age differences in memory for nonperformed phrase s. In this study, we examined the conditions under which performance reduce s age differences in recall. Younger and older adults performed or read ver b-noun phrases that were either related (e.g., actions performed in a kitch en) or unrelated. Performance did not reduce age differences in recall of t he exact verbs and nouns used to describe an action, but performance did re duce age differences in memory for the gist of related actions. Older adult s especially had difficulty recalling the exact verb used to describe the a ction. These results suggest that older adults may have better memory for a ctions than is revealed by tests of verbatim recall. They may remember perf orming the action but not remember the exact words used to describe the act ion.