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Abstract:
Of the memory deficits associated with aging, elders are most
impaired at attributing source to remembered information.
Additionally, aging is marked by a decrease in the use of encoding
strategies that are thought to enhance the acquisition and
retention of information. We examined how manipulating the encoding
strategy during acquisition affected source memory in 32 young and
68 elderly participants. Elderly participants were dichotomized
into young-old and old-old based upon the median age (74 years).
Source memory was assessed using Word List A from the California
Verbal Learning Test (CVLT) and its alternate form. Categories on
the two lists were mutually exclusive. Encoding strategy was
manipulated by semantic clustering. For the Blocked List, words
were presented grouped into their semantic categories; whereas, for
the Unblocked List, categories were intermixed within the list.
Forced-choice source judgments were made 20 minutes after the final
CVLT recall trial and again one week later. Results revealed that
the young were significantly more accurate in identifying the
source list than the two older groups at both the 20-minute and
1-week delays. The two older groups did not differ significantly
from one another. Source judgments did not vary according to
encoding condition for either the young or elderly participants
suggesting that, while semantic clustering may enhance verbal
recall, it has negligible affects on remembering the source of the
information.
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