RECALL SCORES OF OLD AND YOUNG PEOPLE AS A FUNCTION OF REGISTRATION INTERVALS

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Abstract
The subjects, 24 old (mean age, 69 yr) and 24 young (mean age, 19 yr) people, were given one learning trial on paired associate lists under each of four temporal conditions: (1) 3 sec study (association) interval; (2) self‐paced study interval; (3) self‐paced study interval and 4 sec registration interval; (4) self‐paced study and registration intervals. The response interval for the single recall trial was self‐paced for all conditions. The subject was instructed to use the registration interval to ensure that the association between the paired items was “fixed” in his or her mind. The recall scores of the elderly subjects but not the young subjects improved significantly as a function of the registration interval. The results suggest that with advanced age more time is required for information processing, and specifically for the registration of an association and/or its transfer from primary to secondary memory. The significant improvement of the older subjects from the paced‐study‐interval condition to the self‐paced‐study‐and‐registration‐intervals condition supports the contention that modification of conditions under which the older person is expected to perform can result in substantial performance increments.