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Published on: February 14, 2014
Adult age comparisons in the processing of event frequency information
R E Sanders1, J L Wise, C L Liddle
1Department of Psychology, University of Akron, Ohio 44325.
Psychology and Aging
|June 1, 1990
Summary
Younger adults outperform older adults in frequency judgments due to better strategic encoding. Controlling for encoding revealed equal accuracy, suggesting strategic processing drives age-related differences in memory.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Neuroscience
- Human Development
Background:
- Age-related differences are often observed in memory tasks, particularly in frequency-of-occurrence judgments.
- Existing theories suggest these differences may stem from variations in strategic encoding processes.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate whether age differences in incidental frequency processing are attributable to strategic encoding.
- To examine the role of controlled encoding in modulating age-related performance disparities in memory.
Main Methods:
- A subject-paced visual search task was employed to control the encoding of nontarget words.
- Participants made relative frequency judgments for word pairs presented during the task.
Main Results:
- Both younger and older subjects demonstrated above-chance accuracy in frequency judgments.
- Performance on relative frequency judgments for nontarget word pairs was comparable between age groups when encoding was controlled.
- Strategic cover-task encoding was found to induce age differences in incidental frequency processing.
Conclusions:
- Age differences in incidental frequency processing are influenced by strategic encoding, not solely automatic processes.
- Automatic memory processes require minimal cognitive resources for basic performance.
- Enhanced strategic resource utilization by younger adults can lead to superior frequency performance.
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