Compensation and recoding: A framework for aging and memory research

This article introduces a conceptual frame of reference for the area of aging and memory. The framework is based upon the superordinate concepts of compensation and recoding . It is suggested that older adults are capable of compensating for deficits in episodic remembering by utilizing various types of contextual and cognitive support. A classificatory scheme comprising three subcategories of memory compensation in the elderly is proposed: "compensation via experimenter-provided support" (CEPS), compensation via inherent task properties (CITP), and "compensation via cognitive support systems" (CCSS). The aspect of compensation as an adaptive activity of older adults is also discussed. Further, it is suggested that younger adults because of a superior ability for various recoding operations are less dependent on contextual and cognitive support in order to remember successfully. Recoding is defined as all the cognitive operations an individual possesses that, when applied, enriches the originally registered information. The superordinate nature of the concepts of compensation and recoding is indicated by the fact that they bring together a vast number of empirical findings previously regarded as support for opposed theoretical accounts.     

The relation between level of general knowledge and feeling-of-knowing: An adult age study

Younger and older adults were examined in recall and recognition of factual information varying in datedness. It was found that younger adults performed better for questions related to the time period 1970–1983, while the older adults performed better for questions related to the time period 1930–1950. The subjects also did confidence ratings of their "feeling-of-knowing" of the actual questions. On the basis of the cross-over interaction between age and datedness, the relationship between the level of general knowledge and the ability to monitor the knowledge was investigated. Only minor differences were observed between the graphs describing recall and recognition performance as a function of feeling-of-knowing in the four age by datedness combinations. Thus, the results suggest that the ability to supervise context-free semantic information may be intact despite an inferiority in level of knowledge. Comparisons were made between the results of the present study and those of previous studies on metamemory and episodic remembering.     

Optimal recall in early and late adulthood

Mäntylä & Nilsson (1983) recently presented a striking empirical phenomenon demonstrating a practically perfect recall of verbal materials encountered at one single trial and without specific instructions to learn the items. The purpose of the study to be presented in this article was to investigate whether older adults are capable of performing at the same high level of recall as younger adults did in the Mäntylä & Nilsson study. Type of instructions and number of retrieval cues were included in the experimental design, in addition to the age factor. Although the results indicated a superior memory performance of younger adults as compared to older adults, the latter group of subjects demonstrated an extremely high level of recall as well. Both age groups showed quite similar recall patterns in the sense that no interaction effects between the age factor and the other independent variables were obtained. The data were discussed relative to qualitatively and quantitatively based explanations of age differences in memory.     

Repetition effects on word fragment completion: The role of competition among responses

Four experiments examined the effect of spaced repetition of study words on completion of word fragments with only one solution and word fragments with multiple solutions. Recognition was used as test of explicit memory in the first two experiments. The study words were presented either once or three times. Repetition was found to increase recognition memory substantially, and to affect fragment completion performance only marginally. This was true for both single- and multiple-solution fragments, showing that competition among responses is not critical for the magnitude of the repetition effect in fragment completion. This finding, that the repetition effect is marginal also when the type of cues provides an occasion for repetition effects to show up, suggests that the real effect of repetition on perceptual priming is borderline. It is proposed that memory from the first presentation eliminates necessary processing of items when they are re-exposed, and that the repetition effect thereby is reduced.     

Decomposing the encoding of action events: A dual conception

Two experiments are reported in which we tested the hypothesis that encoding of verbal features of subject-performed tasks or SPTs (e.g., bounce the ball, lift the spoon) is attention-demanding and effortful, whereas physical features of this memory task (e.g., color, weight) are acquired with little effort, and without deliberate encoding strategies. In Experiment 1, subjects were asked to perform a series of SPTs and were examined on recall of verbal instructions and colors of objects involved under conditions of focused or divided attention. In Experiment 2, performance of a series of SPTs was followed by recall of verbal instructions and recall of weights of objects involved. Results of both experiments indicated that recall of the verbal task component was negatively affected by requirements of dual-task performance, whereas recall of both physical task features was equally good in both encoding conditions. The obtained pattern of outcome is interpreted as supportive of the dual conception hypothesis of the nature of the encoding of action events.     

Specificity of Discrimination: Does It Matter From Whence It Comes?1

The negative effects of discrimination on those who are stigmatized are well documented. What is less clear, however, is whether the source of the discrimination has differential outcomes on the person being discriminated against. Survey results from 685 injecting drug users (IDUs) revealed that IDUs who experienced discrimination from healthcare workers had poorer physical health, whereas physical health was unrelated to experiences of discrimination by those outside the healthcare system (family, friends, and partners). In contrast, IDUs' mental health status was less sensitive to the source of discrimination. Discrimination by healthcare workers and by others outside the healthcare industry were both related to IDUs' mental health. Implications and limitations of this research are discussed.