Age invariance in feeling of knowing during implicit interference effects

Prior research found age invariance in accuracy of delayed judgments of learning accuracy (Eakin, D. K., & Hertzog, C. [2006]. Release from implicit interference in memory and metamemory: Older adults know that they can't let go. The Journals of Gerontology, Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, 61, 340-347). We tested whether aging affects accuracy of feeling of knowing (FOK) predictions under implicit interference. Discrepancies in the literature suggest that FOKs sometimes are and sometimes are not affected by aging. In addition, because the effects of implicit interference are different on recognition than on recall, older adults may have difficulty ignoring the impact of interference on recall in order to accurately predict the lack of interference effects on recognition.

Younger and older adults studied cue-target pairs and cue set size varied. After a cued recall test, they made FOKs about future recognition of the target given the cue and then took a recognition test.

Neither younger nor older adults were able to predict recognition of unrecalled items. FOKs were more correlated with recall than with recognition for both age groups. Although both recall and recognition varied with age, no age differences were obtained in FOK accuracy.

FOK accuracy was not impaired with age, even when memory was. FOKs of both younger and older adults reflected implicit interference effects in recall, not recognition.