Source memory in older adults: An encoding or retrieval problem?

Source memory has been found to be more affected by aging than item memory, possibly because of declining frontal function among older adults. In 4 ex periments, the authors explored the role of the frontal lobes (FLs) in sour ce memory, the extent to which they may be involved in the encoding and/or retrieval of source or context, and the conditions under which the source m emory deficit in older people may be reduced or eliminated. Results indicat ed that only a subset of older adults show deficits in source memory, namel y those with below average frontal function, and these deficits can be elim inated by requiring people at study to consider the relation between an ite m and its context. These results provide convincing evidence of the importa nce of frontal function during the encoding of source and suggest that olde r adults with reduced FL function fail to initiate the processes required t o integrate contextual information with focal content during study.