Analysis of learning and rate of forgetting in age-associated memory differences

This study used a visual free-recall paradigm to examine rate of forgetting in a sample of 255 normal adults (age range 18-91 years). Subjects were administered the Visual Reproduction Subtest (VR) from Form I of the Wechsler Memory Scale, along with a 30-min delayed-recall procedure. Results revealed that older adults performed below levels obtained by younger ones on both phases of the VR. However, analysis revealed no differences among age groups in rate of forgetting. Lower scores for older subjects on the delayed-recall task appeared to reflect differences in initial learning, not an accelerated rate of forgetting. Normative data for rate of forgetting were provided for adults in all age groups.