The effects of memory elaboration on adult age differences in incidental recall

Jane L. Rankin; Marcia Collins

doi:10.1080/03610738608258574

The effects of memory elaboration on adult age differences in incidental recall

Jane L. Rankin, Marcia Collins

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12 Scopus citations

Abstract

To test the hypothesis that elaboration of information declines with advancing age, young and elderly adults were tested for incidental recall of target words in base sentences, sentences for which precise (relevant) or imprecise (irrelevant) elaborations were provided, or sentences for which precise or imprecise elaborations were participant-generated. Age differences were greater when participants were instructed to generate precise elaborations than when they were provided precise elaborations, and elderly adults generated fewer precise elaborations than young adults. Results were discussed as reflecting the pervasiveness of elderly adults’ difficulty in constructing effective elaborations.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	231-234
Number of pages	4
Journal	Experimental Aging Research
Volume	12
Issue number	4
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1080/03610738608258574
State	Published - 1986

Funding

Fifty young and 50 elderly adults with mean ages of 19.84 (SD=1 .78) and 73.42 (SD=5.42) years served as participants. Yound adults were students at Drake University and received class credit for their participation; elderly adults were members of church organizations or residents of an apartment building for well elderly adults and were paid $4.00. Young adults had a mean of 13.56 years of education while elderly adults had completed 14.08 years of education. Raw WAIS vocabulary scores for the two groups were 57.56 and 55.52 for the young and elderly groups respectively. Neither of these differences proved significant (F’sCl.67). The correlation between vocabulary and ‘This research was supported by a Mellon Foundation grant to J.V. Hinrichs and J.L. Rankin administered through University House at the University of Iowa. The authors wish to express their appreciation to Professor James V. Hinrichs of the University of Iowa for his invaluable assistance. Requests for reprints should be addressed to: J.L. Rankin, Department of Psychology, Drake University, Des Moines, Iowa 50311, U.S.A. lFrom the Department of Psychology, Drake University, Des Moines, Iowa 50311, U.S.A.

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Geriatrics and Gerontology
Aging
Arts and Humanities (miscellaneous)
General Psychology

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title = "The effects of memory elaboration on adult age differences in incidental recall",

abstract = "To test the hypothesis that elaboration of information declines with advancing age, young and elderly adults were tested for incidental recall of target words in base sentences, sentences for which precise (relevant) or imprecise (irrelevant) elaborations were provided, or sentences for which precise or imprecise elaborations were participant-generated. Age differences were greater when participants were instructed to generate precise elaborations than when they were provided precise elaborations, and elderly adults generated fewer precise elaborations than young adults. Results were discussed as reflecting the pervasiveness of elderly adults{\textquoteright} difficulty in constructing effective elaborations.",

author = "Rankin, {Jane L.} and Marcia Collins",

note = "Funding Information: Fifty young and 50 elderly adults with mean ages of 19.84 (SD=1 .78) and 73.42 (SD=5.42) years served as participants. Yound adults were students at Drake University and received class credit for their participation; elderly adults were members of church organizations or residents of an apartment building for well elderly adults and were paid $4.00. Young adults had a mean of 13.56 years of education while elderly adults had completed 14.08 years of education. Raw WAIS vocabulary scores for the two groups were 57.56 and 55.52 for the young and elderly groups respectively. Neither of these differences proved significant (F{\textquoteright}sCl.67). The correlation between vocabulary and {\textquoteleft}This research was supported by a Mellon Foundation grant to J.V. Hinrichs and J.L. Rankin administered through University House at the University of Iowa. The authors wish to express their appreciation to Professor James V. Hinrichs of the University of Iowa for his invaluable assistance. Requests for reprints should be addressed to: J.L. Rankin, Department of Psychology, Drake University, Des Moines, Iowa 50311, U.S.A. lFrom the Department of Psychology, Drake University, Des Moines, Iowa 50311, U.S.A.",

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AU - Collins, Marcia

N1 - Funding Information: Fifty young and 50 elderly adults with mean ages of 19.84 (SD=1 .78) and 73.42 (SD=5.42) years served as participants. Yound adults were students at Drake University and received class credit for their participation; elderly adults were members of church organizations or residents of an apartment building for well elderly adults and were paid $4.00. Young adults had a mean of 13.56 years of education while elderly adults had completed 14.08 years of education. Raw WAIS vocabulary scores for the two groups were 57.56 and 55.52 for the young and elderly groups respectively. Neither of these differences proved significant (F’sCl.67). The correlation between vocabulary and ‘This research was supported by a Mellon Foundation grant to J.V. Hinrichs and J.L. Rankin administered through University House at the University of Iowa. The authors wish to express their appreciation to Professor James V. Hinrichs of the University of Iowa for his invaluable assistance. Requests for reprints should be addressed to: J.L. Rankin, Department of Psychology, Drake University, Des Moines, Iowa 50311, U.S.A. lFrom the Department of Psychology, Drake University, Des Moines, Iowa 50311, U.S.A.

PY - 1986

Y1 - 1986

N2 - To test the hypothesis that elaboration of information declines with advancing age, young and elderly adults were tested for incidental recall of target words in base sentences, sentences for which precise (relevant) or imprecise (irrelevant) elaborations were provided, or sentences for which precise or imprecise elaborations were participant-generated. Age differences were greater when participants were instructed to generate precise elaborations than when they were provided precise elaborations, and elderly adults generated fewer precise elaborations than young adults. Results were discussed as reflecting the pervasiveness of elderly adults’ difficulty in constructing effective elaborations.

AB - To test the hypothesis that elaboration of information declines with advancing age, young and elderly adults were tested for incidental recall of target words in base sentences, sentences for which precise (relevant) or imprecise (irrelevant) elaborations were provided, or sentences for which precise or imprecise elaborations were participant-generated. Age differences were greater when participants were instructed to generate precise elaborations than when they were provided precise elaborations, and elderly adults generated fewer precise elaborations than young adults. Results were discussed as reflecting the pervasiveness of elderly adults’ difficulty in constructing effective elaborations.

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The effects of memory elaboration on adult age differences in incidental recall

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