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Same Goals, but Different Outcomes: Present-Focused versus Future-Focused Memory Beliefs Differentially Predict Young
Tara T Lineweaver1, Abbey N Collins1, Stephanie C Smith1
1Department of Psychology, Butler University, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA.
Objective:
We investigated whether beliefs about the current versus future effectiveness of memory strategies predict young and older adults' everyday strategy use.
Method:
103 young and 91 older adults reported their memory goals, beliefs about the current and future effectiveness of various strategies, and frequency of use of each strategy type.
Results:
The two age groups equally valued current and future memory. Young adults' strategy selection related only to their beliefs about the strategies' current effectiveness; older adults utilized approaches they perceived as effective for improving both future and current memory.
Implications:
Findings highlight the importance of the temporal nature of memory strategy beliefs.
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