Effects of age and a divided attention task presented during encoding and retrieval on memory

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Psychology
• Neuroscience
• Gerontology

Background:

• Memory performance often declines with age.
• Previous research suggests retrieval is particularly challenging for older adults.
• The impact of divided attention on memory across the lifespan needs further investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate age differences in memory under conditions of divided attention.
• To determine if divided attention affects encoding, retrieval, or both differently in older and younger adults.
• To test the hypothesis that retrieval is more affected by divided attention in older adults.

Main Methods:

• Two experiments were conducted using word-list recall tasks.
• Participants (young and older adults) studied categorized words.
• A secondary task (number monitoring or cued recall) was introduced during encoding, retrieval, or both to divide attention.

Main Results:

• Divided attention during encoding significantly impaired older adults' memory recall and clustering more than younger adults'.
• Divided attention during retrieval did not show a similar age-related interaction.
• Results were consistent across both experiments, even with increased retrieval task demands.

Conclusions:

• Age differences in memory under divided attention are more pronounced during encoding than retrieval.
• Findings contradict theories emphasizing retrieval deficits in older adults.
• Limited processing resource models may not fully explain age-related memory impairments.