Timing, instructions, and inhibitory control: Some missing factors in the age and memory debate

In response to Luszcz and Bryan, we point to three omitted factors that hav e been found to influence the presence and size of age differences in memor y tasks and that, as such, have important implications for resolving theore tical questions about aging and memory. These include: (1) age differences in circadian rhythms and testing time effects that are associated with such differences; (2) instructions that may have a particularly disruptive effe ct on older adults, and (3) inhibitory control differences that have an age -related impact on both estimates of working memory span and on performance in multitask studies. Copyright (C) 1999 S. Karger AG, Basel.