Strategy use, recall, and recall organization in young, middle-aged, and elderly adults

The application and transfer of free recall study strategies were examined for young, middle-aged, and elderly adults. Subjects were either instructed to use clustering and imagery, instructed to use their own study strategies, or given standard free recall instructions. Subjects at all age levels showed high initial use of categorization and low initial use of imagery. Subject-reported imagery increased after training, but categorization was the only strategy associated with higher recall levels. Training produced increases in recall clustering that were apparent only on a transfer list. The results provided evidence that adult age differences in memory occur even when middle-aged and elderly adults show evidence of categorization in recall.