Tasks for assessing memory for temporal order versus memory for items in aging

Younger and older adults were compared on new tests for item and temporal m emory suitable for use in future electrophysiological or neuroimaging studi es. Following a series of 10 simple line drawings, 4-choice panels containi ng two previously seen targets and two novel distracters appeared. Particip ants identified which pictures had been seen previously (item), or which of the items was presented earliest (temporal order). Performance of younger adults was superior to that of older adults. Memory for item and temporal o rder were equivalent in the younger group. in contrast, the item memory of the older group was superior to memory for temporal order, confirming previ ous evidence of differential impairment of memory for temporal order with a ge.