Testing Can Enhance Episodic Memory Updating in Younger and Older Adults

Older adults sometimes show impaired memory for recent episodes, especially those that are similar but not identical to existing memories. Two experiments examined if interpolated testing between episodes improves recent memories for older and younger adults (N = 60 per group and experiment). Participants studied two lists of cue-response word pairs. Some pairs included the same cue in both lists with changed responses. Between lists, List 1 pairs were tested (Experiments 1 and 2), tested with corrective feedback (Experiment 1 only), or restudied (Experiment 2 only). On a final cued recall test, participants attempted to recall the List 2 response, indicated if responses had changed between lists, and if so, attempted to recall the List 1 response. List 2 recalls for changed pairs operationalized episodic memory updating. Older adults showed poorer List 2 recall than younger adults. But both age groups showed improved List 2 recall following interpolated testing with or without feedback compared to no-test and restudy contrast conditions. This so-called forward testing effect was accompanied by improved memory for responses having changed across lists. These results contrast with the inhibitory deficit proposal that older adults should be more interference prone than younger adults when competing responses are more accessible during encoding. These findings are more compatible with the view that retrieval practice of competing responses can support the encoding of cross-episode associations and potentially mitigate interference, thus improving age-related associative memory deficits. Public Significance Statement This study examined if a retrieval practice technique that can improve younger adults' memory for recent episodes also benefits older adults. By promoting retrieval of existing memories, testing prior information before new learning improved younger and older adults' memory for more recent episodes. These findings suggest that retrieving existing memories can promote memory for more recent related information, thus reducing the mental clutter that sometimes impedes older adults' memory accuracy.