Pre-experimental knowledge facilitates episodic recall in young, young-old, and old-old adults

Younger adults (mean age = 19.6), 73-year-olds and 82-year-olds were examined on free recall of verbal materials varying in datedness (i.e., names of people who attained their fame during the 1930s or the 1980s). The main result was an interaction between age and type of materials. Whereas younger adults performed better for "new" than for "old" items, both elderly groups recalled more old than new items. A highlight of these data is that activation of pre-experimental knowledge structures appears to improve episodic recall in both young-old and old-old adults.