Face recognition and aging : Effects of target age and memory load

In the present study, we investigated age-related decline in face recognition memory and whether this decline is moderated by the age of the target faces and by the number of faces that the participant must learn (memory load). Thirty-two participants in each of three age groups (18-39 years, 60-75...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Memory & cognition 2005-09, Vol.33 (6), p.1017-1024
Main Authors: LAMONT, Aluson C, STEWART-WILLIAMS, Steve, PODD, John
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Accuracy
Adolescent
Adult
Adult. Elderly
Age Factors
Age groups
Aged
Aging
Biological and medical sciences
Cognition & reasoning
Cognitive ability
Developmental psychology
Face
False alarms
Female
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Human
Humans
Learning. Memory
Load
Male
Memory
Middle Aged
Older people
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychophysiology
Race
Recognition
Recognition (Psychology)
Variables
Young adults
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Summary:In the present study, we investigated age-related decline in face recognition memory and whether this decline is moderated by the age of the target faces and by the number of faces that the participant must learn (memory load). Thirty-two participants in each of three age groups (18-39 years, 60-75 years, and 76-96 years) completed a face recognition task. Signal detection analyses confirmed that face recognition accuracy declined with age. However, this finding was qualified by an interaction between participant age and target age, which revealed that the age-related decline in face recognition accuracy occurred only for young target faces. Increased memory load was associated with comparable performance decrements across all age groups. However, memory load appears not to be the cause of these decrements. Instead, they appear to be a product of recognition load (the number of stimuli presented in the recognition phase).
ISSN:0090-502X
1532-5946
DOI:10.3758/BF03193209