Modality memory and frequency of occurrence memory for young and middle-aged adults

Young and middle-aged subjects, matched for scores on a figural relations test, did not differ in memory for either word content or the case format in which study list words had been presented, suggesting that age deficits for modality memory are restricted to late adulthood. Scores on the figural relations test, as a measure of fluid intelligence, correlated positively with case recognition scores, but significantly so only for the young subjects. In addition case recognition memory was more proficient under intentional conditions than under incidental conditions for both age groups, implying that case encoding is a cognitively effortful activity. In agreement with this position, case recognition scores showed an absence of correlation with scores on a frequency judgment task, a task commonly assumed to involve an automatic encoding process.