Production deficiency hypothesis revisited: Adult age differences in strategy use as a function of processing resources

Abstract

In a group of 62 young and 75 older subjects, LISREL models were used to predict ordered list recall from age category, self-reported strategy use and selected cognitive abilities. It was found that: (a) age differences in the strategies of associating and repetition/testing were completely explained by speed of mental processing and associative memory; (b) only these two age-related strategies were efficacious strategies, the one not age-related strategy (concentrating) was not; (c) a large proportion of the age-related variance in list recall performance was mediated by speed and associative memory; and (d) this influence of speed and associative memory on ordered list recall was partly mediated by strategies. These results support a moderate version of the production deficiency explanation of memory aging, in which age differences in efficacious strategy use are explained by age differences in basic cognitive abilities.