Trial-and-error learning improves source memory among young and older adults

Trial-and-error learning, relative to errorless learning, has been shown to impair memory among older adults, despite evidence from young adults that errors may afford memorial benefits through richer encoding. However, previous studies on the effects of errorless versus trial-and-error learning in older adults has required production of errors based on perceptual cues. We hypothesized that producing errors conceptually associated with targets would boost memory for the encoding context in which information was studied, especially for older adults who do not spontaneously elaborate on targets at encoding. We report two studies examining the impact of generating errors during learning on source memory among young and older adults, with a process dissociation procedure employed in Study 1, and source memory assessed directly in Study 2. In both studies, participants were shown semantic category cues and generated an exemplar either with or without errors. In Study 1, for both age groups trial-and-error learning was associated with lower familiarity-based memory and higher recollection-based memory relative to errorless learning, and the latter effect was more marked for older than younger adults. Similarly, in Study 2, trial-and-error learning was associated with better source memory relative to errorless learning, particularly for the older adults. We argue that trial-and-error learning can enhance source memory and confer memorial benefits when making such errors facilitates semantic elaboration, especially for older adults who do not spontaneously engage in strategic encoding.