Method of presentation of meaningful prose to young and old adults

Thirty young (x = 27.5 years) and thirty old (x = 67.7 years) volunteers read a selection of prose and then were tested for retention with a fifteen item multiple-choice comprehension test. Half the subjects in each group were in the standard visual condition and read the passage silently while the rest read the material aloud to obtain a simultaneous auditory-visual input. There were no age-related differences in the time taken to read the materials and, for both age groups, reading aloud required significantly more time than silent reading. Although the young subjects had significantly higher scores than old on the comprehension test, neither age group exhibited any differences attributable to mode of presentation of materials.