Age Differences in Source Monitoring and Referent Discrimination

  1. Ruiz Gallego-Largo, Trinidad 1
  2. Simón López, Teresa 1
  3. Suengas Goenetxea, Aurora 1
  1. 1 Universidad Complutense de Madrid
    info

    Universidad Complutense de Madrid

    Madrid, España

    ROR 02p0gd045

Journal:
The Spanish Journal of Psychology

ISSN: 1138-7416

Year of publication: 2012

Volume: 15

Issue: 1

Pages: 20-28

Type: Article

DOI: 10.5209/REV_SJOP.2012.V15.N1.37280 DIALNET GOOGLE SCHOLAR lock_openOpen access editor

More publications in: The Spanish Journal of Psychology

Abstract

In contrast to previous studies which addressed separately memory for source and referent, the present experiment analyzes the effects of aging on memory for both, source and referent. The experiment simulated a conversation between two people exchanging descriptors of themselves and the other speaker (e.g., “I am helpful,” “you are capable”). Participants (N = 60) were divided into two age groups: younger (M = 23.47 years old, SD = 2.37), older (M = 70.30 years old, SD = 3.73). Recall, recognition, and accuracy in identifying source (e.g., “who said helpful?”) and referent (e.g., “about whom was capable said?”) were analyzed. Younger and older adults recalled and recognized equally well information read by the experimenter about herself, but only young adults showed better memory for the descriptors they read about themselves. Older adults were impaired in source monitoring, but not in reference discrimination. Normal referent discrimination in older adults is attributed to the fact that the referent forms part of the content of the episode, whereas who spoke it is part of its context, and older adults tend to show greater deficits in context than in content memory. These results are explained within the source and reality monitoring framework.

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Funding information

This research was supported by Comunidad Autónoma de Madrid Grant PR45/05-14148.

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