ENCODING, RETRIEVAL AND AGE EFFECTS ON RECOLLECTIVE EXPERIENCE

In an experiment to examine the effects of encoding (repetition, association) and retrieval (recognition, cued and free recall) conditions and the age of the subject (young, elderly) on retrieval accuracy and recollective experience, 96 subjects studied a 20-item word list at their own pace. Recollective experience was assessed using Tulving's (1985) and Gardiner's (1988) measures of remembering ('R'- a conscious recollection of information) and knowing ('K'- knowledge other than that based on conscious recollection). Elaboration at the time of encoding and the availability of cue information at the time of recall led to improved accuracy performance; in addition, the young had greater retrieval accuracy than the elderly. Elaborative encoding increased the probability of an 'R' rating being associated with retrieval; free recall resulted in more 'R' ratings than cued recall and recognition, and the younger subjects had a greater likelihood of 'R' ratings than the older ones, although elaboration led to higher 'R' scores in the elderly. These findings were, in general, mirrored in the 'K' data. The results suggest that although the elderly may have a poorer recollective trace, other information, indexed by 'K', is substituted.