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Age-dependent recall bias for material of internal versus external origin
Anna M Barrett1, Gregory P Crucian, Ellen M Wingard
1Division of Neurology, Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine, Hershey, Pennsylvania 17033, USA. amb33@psu.edu
Objective:
To learn whether young and aged subjects exhibit different recall biases for internally derived (Internal) versus externally supplied (External) material.
Background:
Internally derived knowledge, prized by educators and therapists, can bring about dramatic behavioral change. Such information, seldom assessed on formal memory testing, may be preferentially recalled compared with external-origin material. Under some circumstances, however, subjects may demonstrate a recall advantage for externally supplied over internally generated material.
Method:
We compared Internal and External word recall in young and aged subjects with and without explicit intent to remember.
Results:
Although overall the young and aged subjects recalled the same number of words, we did find a word-origin recall bias. This recall bias differed by age group (P = 0.005). When not instructed to remember words, the young subjects tended to remember more External words, while aged subjects remembered more Internal words.
Conclusions:
The differences in the brain mechanisms mediating Internal versus External recall bias are unknown. However, aging may modify an Internal-External memory bias.