Many studies comparing young and old adults on memory tasks have reported a significant age decline in retrieval performance. However, there were very few tertiary memory (the ability to retrieve familiar information) studies that have been conducted ...
Many studies comparing young and old adults on memory tasks have reported a significant age decline in retrieval performance. However, there were very few tertiary memory (the ability to retrieve familiar information) studies that have been conducted with the oldest-old persons. The purpose of this study was to assess age-related decline of the cognitive functions of the oldest-old participants, including 18 centenarians. Results indicate that tertiary memory is significantly sensitive to age variables, showing a strong linear relationship between retieval performance and age. Age-associated decrement was discussed in the context of senile dementia.