The Role of Reminding in Retroactive Effects of Memory for Older and Younger Adults

Retroactive interference refers to the impairing effects of new learning on earlier memories. The memory-for-change framework posits that being reminded of earlier information when learning new information can alleviate such retroactive interference and lead to facilitation. Such effects have been shown in younger adults, but the extent to which remindings play a role in retroactive effects of memory for older adults has not been examined. We address this issue here in two experiments using variants of an A-B, A-C paired associate paradigm. Participants studied two lists containing associated word pairs that: repeated across lists (A-B, A-B), included the same cue with a changed response in List 2 (A-B, A-C), or only appeared in List 1 (A-B), and then completed a cued-recall test of List 1. Participants reported List 1 reminding during List 2 study and recollection of reminding at test. Neither age group showed retroactive interference in overall List I recall. but younger adults showed poorer source monitoring by producing more List 2 intrusions onto List 1 recall than older adults. For both age groups, reminding was associated with retroactive facilitation for List 1 recall. whereas the absence of reminding was associated with retroactive interference. The benefits associated with reminding and recollection of reminding were greater for younger than older adults, partly because younger adults were able to recollect remindings more often than older adults. Together these results implicate a role for reminding in retroactive effects of memory that is more facilitative for younger than older adults.