Age-related Deficits in Associative Memory: the Influence of Impaired Strategic Retrieval Binding Hypothesis and Retrieval Failure

In 2 experiments, the authors investigated whether impaired strategic retrieval processes contribute to the age-related deficit in associative memory. To do so, they compared older and younger adults on measures of associative memory that place high demands on retrieval processes (associative identification and recall-to-reject) to measures that place low demands on such processes (associative reinstatement and recall-to-accept). Results showed that older adults were severely impaired on associative identification and recall-to-reject measures; relatively intact on recall-to-accept measures, unless recollection was prominent; and intact on associative reinstatement measures. Together, these findings suggest that impairment in strategic retrieval accounts for older adults' deficits in memory for associative information and that this deficit, above and beyond poor binding of items, leads to and amplifies an impairment in overall recollection.