Expertise supports memory for arbitrary relations in aging

Accessing knowledge acquired across the lifespan differs from our ability to recall recent episodes or experiences, although the two processes are highly interrelated. Whereas episodic memory function typically declines with normal aging, semantic memory, including language and factual knowledge, are more robust to age-related decline. The structure and stability of acquired knowledge make it a potential asset in helping remember new information, even when it is completely unrelated. In the present study, we examined whether specialized knowledge about birds may help bird experts retain arbitrary episodic associations between (faces) paired with domain-relevant information (bird images) versus domain-irrelevant information (car images). After studying bird-face or car-face pairs, participants decided whether test pairs were either intact or recombined. Experts showed a large memory advantage for pairs in which faces had previously been paired with a bird versus a car, but no difference was found in novices. Although broad age-related declines in memory persisted, this benefit of prior knowledge was prevalent across the age range, such that relational memory performance in 75-year-old experts was roughly equivalent to corresponding performance in 20-year-old novices. These results show how expertise can offset age-related memory decline by allowing experts of all ages to efficiently link novel information to structured knowledge that has been accumulated across the lifetime. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).