Memory for the usual: the influence of schemas on memory for non-schematic information in younger and older adults

ABSTRACT

Schemas are abstract mental representations that influence perceptual and memory processes. Schemas can aide memory for information that is related or congruent with a given schema (i.e., schematic information), yet it is unclear how schemas affect memory for information that does not directly relate to the schema (i.e., non-schematic information). Using a novel scene paradigm, the current series of studies investigated how schemas affect memory for schematic and non-schematic information, as well as how directed encoding influences remembering of both types of information in younger and older adults. Results showed poorer accurate recognition of non-schematic information relative to schematic information, influenced largely by a bias in identifying non-schematic items as “new”. While directed encoding was able to increase remembering of non-schematic information and decrease bias across both age groups, the present set of studies highlights the pervasive influence of a schema on memory for non-schematic information.

KEYWORDS:

• Memory
• schemas
• aging
• attention
• false memory

Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank the members of the Cognitive Aging and Neuroimaging lab for assistance with data collection and for helpful comments on earlier versions of the manuscript. Specifically, we wish to thank Christina Dudzik, Margaret Hartley, Kyle Kurkela, Manzhao Long, Haley Marttila, and Min Sung Seo for their help in data collection. This work was supported in part by a National Science Foundation grant (BCS1025709) awarded to NAD. CEW was supported by National Institute on Aging Grant T32 (AG049676) awarded to The Pennsylvania State University. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation or National Institute on Aging. The authors report no conflicts of interest.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1 Across both studies, when calculating d’ and c, individual hit and false alarm rates of 1 were replaced by (1–1/2N) and rates of 0 were replaced by (1/2N), where N is the number of relevant trials for that stimulus type (Macmillan & Kaplan, 1985).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by National Institute on Aging [grant number AG049676]; National Science Foundation [grant number BCS1025709].