Verbal ability and text structure effects on adult age differences in text recall

Young adults are generally better than older adults at remembering information from text materials. Previous research investigating the nature of these differences has produced conflicting results. Two sets of variables that influence age-related patterns of text recall are examined in the present study. Specifically, the effects of verbal ability level and text structure variables (number of arguments in the text and level of information in the text) on the text recall of younger (20–39 years), middle-aged (40–57 years), and older (60–84 years) adults are investigated. The subjects read and recalled short texts on health and nutrition. Subjects' recall protocols were scored according to the propositional system of W. Kintsch (The Representation of Meaning in Memory, 1974, Hillsdale, N.J.: Erlbaum). Age differences in the discovery and utilization of the organizational structure of texts were found to be mediated by both subject ability and text structure variables. Specifically, for adults with low verbal ability, age-related differences in recall were greater for the main ideas than for the details of the texts. For adults with high verbal ability the reverse was true. Finally, the hypothesis that age differences in recall would be minimized when there were fewer arguments or concepts in the text received only modest support.