Age differences in accuracy and choosing in eyewitness identification and face recognition

Studies of aging and face recognition show age-related increases in false r ecognitions of new faces. To explore implications of this false alarm effec t, we had young and senior adults perform (1) three eyewitness identificati on tasks, using both target present and target absent lineups, and (2) an o ld/new recognition task in which a study list of faces was followed by a te st including old and new faces, along with conjunctions of old faces. Compa red with the young, seniors had lower accuracy and higher choosing rates on the lineups, and they also falsely recognized more new faces on the recogn ition test. However, after screening for perceptual processing deficits, th ere was no age difference in false recognition of conjunctions, or in discr iminating old faces from conjunctions. We conclude that the false alarm eff ect generalizes to lineup identification, but does not extend to conjunctio n faces. The findings are consistent with age-related deficits in recollect ion of context and relative age invariance in perceptual integrative proces ses underlying the experience of familiarity.