Misinformation effect in older versus younger adults: a meta-analysis and review

This chapter presents an argument that an age-related associative deficit impacts memory accuracy in older adults, and as such makes them more susceptible to false memories and related memory errors. The chapter demonstrating associative memory deficits in older adults, followed by a selective review of false memory research in which associative memory processes are relevant to memory performance. A significant amount of evidence exists to indicate that associative deficits extend beyond intraitem associations like those observed by Chalfonte and Johnson to interitem associations across a variety of stimuli. It examines associative deficits in older adults is the observation that not only do older adults remember associative information less well than do younger adults, they also produce more conjunctive memory errors. To illustrate, consider how details are used in the false memory of young adults. Research on false memory in young adults shows that false memories may sometimes include specific featural information.