Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 24, 2026

A Real-world What-Where-When Memory Test
Published on: May 16, 2017
Illusory recollection in older adults and younger adults under divided attention
Erin I Skinner1, Myra A Fernandes
1Department of Psychology, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. eiskinne@watarts.uwaterloo.ca
Abstract:
The authors investigated the effect of divided attention, study-list repetition, and age on recollection and familiarity. Older and younger adults under full attention and younger adults under divided attention at study viewed word lists highly associated with a single unstudied word (critical lure) once or three times, and subsequently performed a remember-know recognition test. Younger adults made fewer false remember responses to critical lures from repeated study lists, whereas younger adults under divided attention and older adults both showed an increase with repetition. Findings suggest older adults' susceptibility to illusory memories is related to a deficit in available attention during encoding.
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