Quality of attachment as a predictor of maternal visitation to young hospitalized children.

Tested a comprehensive model of factors predicting maternal visitation with hospitalized children. Subjects were 86 mothers who completed the Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, a 12-item attachment measure derived from the Waters and Deane Attachment Q-sort, and a demographic questionnaire. Children were 10 months to 4 years old (37 female, 49 male) and hospitalized for acute nonsurgical illness. Hierarchical regression analyses indicated that, of the subset of variables tested (SES, number of children at home, gender, age, number of previous hospitalizations, state anxiety, and security of attachment), quality of attachment was the only significant predictor of maternal visitation rate. Mothers who reported that their children displayed insecure attachment behaviors maintained a significantly lower rate of visitation than mothers who reported that their children displayed secure attachment behaviors. Results of this study highlight the importance of understanding parent-child attachment in predicting maternal visitation when a child is hospitalized.

The effects of memory elaboration on adult age differences in incidental recall.

To test the hypothesis that elaboration of information declines with advancing age, young and elderly adults were tested for incidental recall of target words in base sentences, sentences for which precise (relevant) or imprecise (irrelevant) elaborations were provided, or sentences for which precise or imprecise elaborations were participant-generated. Age differences were greater when participants were instructed to generate precise elaborations than when they were provided precise elaborations, and elderly adults generated fewer precise elaborations than young adults. Results were discussed as reflecting the pervasiveness of elderly adults' difficulty in constructing effective elaborations.

Adult age differences in memory: effects of distinctive and common encodings.

To clarify the role of encoding distinctiveness and encoding cue utilization in age-related memory differences, young and elderly adults were instructed either to generate distinctive or common adjectives for 40 nouns and given 3 study-recall trials for the nouns, both with no cues and with the adjectives that they had generated as cues. Their retention was compared with that of a control group that had rated the nouns for abstractness. Elderly adults were as likely as young adults to generate distinctive adjectives, but were less likely than young adults to generate common adjectives when instructed to do so. In both age groups, common adjective encodings produced superior free recall and distinctive adjective encodings produced superior cued recall. The results suggest that (1) elderly adults are as capable as young adults of generating distinctive encoding context cues when instructed to do so, and (2) age-related encoding differences occur in the processing of distinctive properties of the stimulus items themselves rather than in the utilization of cues generated during study.

Adult age differences in memory elaboration.

Two experiments tested the hypothesis that elderly adults conduct less elaboration of information to be learned than young adults. In Experiment 1, young and elderly adults were tested for free and context-cued recall of target words embedded in sentences ending in relevant (precise) or irrelevant (imprecise) elaborations. In Experiment 2, young and elderly adults were tested for recall of words in sentences for which relevant or irrelevant elaborations were provided or sentences for which relevant or irrelevant elaborations were generated by the participants. They were also tested for memory of the elaborations themselves. Elderly adults showed as much benefit from the provision of relevant elaborations as young adults but were less likely to generate relevant elaborations. The results reflect age-related differences in elaborating stimulus words in terms of previous knowledge and in encoding specific attributes of sentence contexts.

Strategy use, recall, and recall organization in young, middle-aged, and elderly adults.

The application and transfer of free recall study strategies were examined for young, middle-aged, and elderly adults. Subjects were either instructed to use clustering and imagery, instructed to use their own study strategies, or given standard free recall instructions. Subjects at all age levels showed high initial use of categorization and low initial use of imagery. Subject-reported imagery increased after training, but categorization was the only strategy associated with higher recall levels. Training produced increases in recall clustering that were apparent only on a transfer list. The results provided evidence that adult age differences in memory occur even when middle-aged and elderly adults show evidence of categorization in recall.

Age, presentation rate, and the effectiveness of structural and semantic recall cues.

To replicate the results of research on age-related differences in the effectiveness of structural and semantic memory cues, 18 young, 18 middle-aged, and 18 elderly adults recalled three 20-item lists aided by category labels, or the initial two letters of each word, or no cues. Lists were presented at 1.5 or 4 sec presentation rates to evaluate the effects of changes in processing speed on age-related trends in cue effectiveness. Semantic cues were most effective in improving recall at all three age levels; structural cues produced intermediate levels of recall facilitation. There was no indication of reduced effectiveness of semantic cues with increases in age and presentation rate, suggesting factors other than age-related changes in the depth of processing are responsible for developmental differences in memory.

The effects of orienting tasks on adult age differences in recall and recognition.

This research examined the type of recognition errors made following orienting task instructions in order to investigate possible age differences in the depth of processing of information to be learned. Eighteen young, 18 middle-aged, and 18 elderly adults viewed 48 words, each of which was accompanied by learning instructions or a phonological or semantic orienting task. Subjects were then presented previously-seen items paired with a synonym, rhyme, or unrelated word. Analyses revealed no age differences in the number or pattern of recognition errors. Middle-aged and elderly adults recalled fewer items than young adults and their recall scores were less affected by orienting task instructions. Results are discussed in the context of possible age differences in the depth and elaboration of processing during study.

Adult age differences in free recall as a function of basis of organization and method of presentation.

To examine age-related differences in the discovery of intralist relationships, young and elderly adults were presented a free-recall list in either the conventional successive single-item format or in a whole-list display. A list that could be organized by associative or rhyming intralist relationships was used to test the levels-of-processing model of memory as an explanation of age differences in recall. Young adults recalled more base-words, associates, and rhymes than elderly subjects on immediate free and cued tests and on an uncued test one week later. Elderly subjects showed less utilization of both semantic and nonsemantic intralist relationships. Age did not interact with method of presentation. Recall and organization deficits occurred for elderly adults even though they were less anxious than young adults.

Adult age differences in false recognitions.

Adult age differences in the depth of processing in recognition memory were examined for the three groups with mean ages of 19, 45, and 70 years. Subjects were tested for phonological and semantic false recognitions with a continuous recognition memory procedure using both moderate (4 sec) and slow (8 sec) presentation rates. Both middle-aged and elderly subjects displayed a greater false recognition effect for both rhymes (phonological) and synonyms (semantic) of previously presented items than did young adults. Thus, there appeared to be little, if any, age-related deficit in depth of processing as defined on a sensory-semantic dimension. On the other hand, middle-aged and elderly subjects correctly recognized fewer of the previously presented (i.e., old) items than did the young adults. Age-level differences in retention of old item information were viewed as reflecting differences in the extent of elaboration within a processing domain. Rate of presentation did not affect either processing depth as measured by false recognitions, or memory per se as measured by the recognition of old items.