Aging Weakens Memory for Schema-Deviant Objects and Decouples Gaze Sampling from Retrieval Decisions

Background/Objectives: Schemas support memory, but it is unclear how aging affects remembering when events deviate from schemas in different ways. We tested whether age differences depend on the integrability of schema-deviant object configurations and whether eye movement evidence sampling tracks retrieval decisions. Methods: Young and older adults completed a Restructured Object Memory Task. They encoded objects that were non-restructured (schema-consistent), reasonably restructured (deviant but integrable), or unreasonably restructured (deviant and non-integrable). At retrieval, participants made three-alternative forced-choice judgments while eye movements were recorded. Subjective ratings assessed perceived deviation, and representational similarity analysis related eye-movement patterns to memory confusions. Results: Older adults showed poorer cue discrimination and object memory, with the largest deficits for restructured objects. Their errors were schema-consistent, often selecting the typical object when targets were restructured. Ratings confirmed the intended deviation ordering, but older adults differentiated conditions less. Eye movements showed that young adults showed the highest target viewing proportion for reasonably restructured targets, and longer fixation durations for unreasonably restructured targets. In young adults, eye-movement representational structure tracked memory confusions. In older adults, early orienting and fixation duration were less predictive of choices, consistent with weaker coupling between sampling and decision. Conclusions: Aging was associated with poorer memory for schema-deviant objects, consistent with reduced representational fidelity and reduced flexibility in how online visual evidence is sampled and used when prior knowledge conflicts with new configurations.