Memory for general and specific value information in younger and older adults: Measuring the limits of strategic control (original) (raw)

2007, Memory & Cognition

The ability to selectively encode and retrieve important units of information is a critical function of memory, and one that is especially important to older adults in light of the age-related decline that is often observed in many memory tasks (for recent reviews, see Kester, Benjamin, Castel, & Craik, 2003; Zacks & Hasher, 2006). William James (1890) commented on this need for selectivity in memory, arguing that, "Selection is the very keel on which our mental ship is built. And in the case of memory its utility is obvious. If we remembered everything, we should on most occasions be as ill off as if we remembered nothing" (p. 680). Although this quote puts the case for selectivity rather strongly, it is clear that in order to maximize memory performance, it is necessary to decide what information is important to remember, and such selection often comes at the expense of memory for less pertinent information. The present investigation examines how aging influences the ability to selectively encode and retrieve information on the basis of value or importance of the information. The control of learning processes is clearly important for mental functioning, and selective encoding is presumably a central ingredient of this ability. Studies of cog-nitive aging have generally shown that executive control processes are less efficient in older adults (Hay & Jacoby, 1999; McDowd & Shaw, 2000; West, 1996). Specific examples of control processes that show an age-related decline include different aspects of working memory (