Effectiveness of the Number-Consonant Mnemonic for Retention of Numeric Material in Community-Dwelling Older Adults

Abstract

The effectiveness of the number—consonant mnemonic for immediate recall and long-term retention of 4 6-digit lock combinations was examined in 36 volunteers who were 60 years old or more. Participants were randomized into either an experimental condition (n = 17) that received training in the number-consonant mnemonic or a group that received placebo training only (n = 19). There were no differences between groups for number recall at posttest. At 3 days a modest difference appeared, favoring the experimental condition, which became highly significant at the 7-day telephone follow-up. This finding suggests that a distinguishing characteristic of the number-consonant mnemonic may be the extent to which it facilitates the maintenance of learned numeric material in memory over time.