The effects of memory skills training and incentives on free recall in older learners

The impact of memory skills training and external reward on free recall of serial word lists was assessed in 60 elderly community-dwelling adults. Participants were divided into four groups: (a) skills training plus incentive, (b) skills training only, (c) placebo plus incentive, and (d) placebo without incentive. The memory skills training involved 2 hours of class instruction and a take-home manual. The incentive was introduced following the posttest study interval, prior to recall, and was in the form of a lottery. The three experimental groups (skills only, skills plus incentive, and incentive only) recalled more words at the posttest interval than the placebo group. Skills training was associated with the greatest number of words recalled, followed by the incentive. No additional performance gains were found when skills training was coupled with incentive. A significant relationship between study time and word recall performance was found at posttest. Those who received skills training used more study time than did the no skills groups. The results suggest that teaching an active memory skill enhances free recall performance. Additionally, incentives were superior to no training. Combining incentives with skills, however, does not extend memory performance over skills training alone.