Recognition memory for emotional words: a comparative study of young, middle-aged and older persons

Emotional and neutral words were used to compare old, middle-aged, and young groups in their recognition memory at two hours and at one week following learning. The old retrieved fewer emotionally charged words than younger groups, while they were equally proficient in the recognition of neutral words. All groups made more correct and more false recognitions of emotional words than of neutral words. Based on discriminability measures, the emotional value of words induced a greater recognition difference at one week than at two hours. The old were less willing to guess than younger persons, adopting high decision criteria especially for emotional words during the two-hour test. The results were interpreted that the elderly are less responsive to emotional words or, alternatively, adopt more stringent recognition criteria for such words.