Age-Differences in the Influence of Mental Imagery Ability on Recognition Memory for Action Phrases

Abstract

Cognition slows down with age and therefore Elderly people have higher rates of memory difficulty when compared to younger adults. Mental imagery is a memory strategy that has improved memory. This study shows that age differences in the ability to manipulate mental imagery do occur. We were interested in determining whether imaging the completion of a task will help people, particularly older adults, to improve their memory on a series of simple action phrases. Three different tasks were used to generate and manipulate mental imagery in both younger and older adults. Age related differences were found in all three of the tasks and those participants who mentally imagined completing the actions did a better job at remembering the series of action phrases. This technique proves to highly benefit the elderly.