Effects of distinctive context on memory for objects and their locations in young and elderly adults

Sharps and Gollin (1987, 1988) reported that older adults' memory for both objects and their spatial location is more facilitated than that of young adults when items are studied in a distinctive visual context. They also reported that age differences in spatial memory and item memory can be ameliorated if the items are studied in a distinctive context. The goal of this study was to verify and extend these findings by examining memory for everyday objects when the objects were studied on a (a) plain surface, (b) black-and-white schematic map, or (c) colored model. In Experiment 1, item memory was examined, and in Experiment 2, spatial memory was studied. The results indicated that spatial memory improved with the addition of distinctive context but item memory did not. Moreover, there was no evidence that elderly adults were more facilitated by the distinctive context than were the young.