Age and individual differences in immediate and delayed effectiveness of mnemonic instructions

Young and older adults' performance was followed over three paired-associate trials, one on each of three lists. All subjects received standard learning instructions prior to the first (baseline) list. Mnemonic instructions, given prior to the second list to half the subjects, had significantly greater immediate benefit for the older adults relative to the benefit of practice alone. However, there was a significant delayed effect of List 2 mnemonic instructions on List 3 performance for the young adults. All subjects, both young and old, showed greater gains in performance level from List 1 to List 2 than from List 2 to List 3. The implications of these findings for a production deficiency explanation of age-related performance differences are discussed. Scores on the WAIS-R Information subtest were significantly correlated with List 1 performance for the older adults, but not for the young. Self-reported anxiety level was no different for young and old and was unrelated to baseline or to subsequent list performance.