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Updated: Aug 16, 2026

Examining Recall Memory in Infancy and Early Childhood Using the Elicited Imitation Paradigm
Published on: April 28, 2016
Age and inhibition: the retrieval of situation models
Gabriel A Radvansky1, Rose T Zacks, Lynn Hasher
1Department of Psychology, 218-C Haggar Hall, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN 46556, USA. Gabriel.A.Radvansky.1@nd.edu
Abstract:
We present a test of whether age-related differences in the management of interference during memory retrieval can be explained, at least in part, by decreased inhibitory mechanisms in older adults. We conducted this test by measuring the ease of retrieval of situation model representations that were sources of interference on the preceding trial but that contained the target information for the current trial. Prior research has shown that situation model retrieval under these conditions exhibits inhibition relative to an unrelated control. This effect was replicated in the current study for younger but not older adults; at the same time, the older adults showed greater overall retrieval interference than the younger adults. This pattern is consistent with the idea that there are declines in inhibitory processing in older adults, and that this applies to memory retrieval.
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