Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, Vol 54, Issue 6 P369-P379, Copyright © 1999 by The Gerontological Society of America
Effects of aging, message repetition, and note-taking on memory for health information
DG Morrow, VO Leirer, LM Carver, ED Tanke and AD McNally
Department of Psychology, University of New Hampshire, USA.
This study investigated whether repetition improves older adults' memory
for health service appointment messages delivered by automated telephone
systems. Whereas imposed repetition reduces age differences in memory
(Morrow, Leirer, Carver, Tanke, & McNally, 1999), the present study
examined the effect of optional repetition. Both older and younger
participants in Experiment 1 chose to repeat messages. More repetition,
higher cognitive ability (working memory and processing speed), and younger
age were associated with better memory for appointment information. The
effect of age was eliminated when cognitive ability, but not repetition,
was controlled. Thus, older adults used optional repetition in automated
systems, but this strategy did not eliminate age differences in memory. In
Experiment 2, older as well as younger adults took accurate notes and also
repeated messages. Both note-taking and message repetition improved memory
for the messages but did not reduce age differences. These findings suggest
that older as well as younger adults use presentation strategies in
automated messaging systems. Older adults may not take full advantage of
these strategies, perhaps because of age-related declines in self-
initiated or metacognitive processes.
