Earles J L, Kersten A W, Turner J M, McMullen J
Department of Psychology, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton 33431-0991, USA.
J Gen Psychol. 1999 Jan;126(1):97-110. doi: 10.1080/00221309909595354.
Age differences in adults' memory for performed actions (e.g., wave hand) are sometimes smaller than age differences in memory for nonperformed phrases. In this study, we examined the conditions under which performance reduces age differences in recall. Younger and older adults performed or read verb-noun phrases that were either related (e.g., actions performed in a kitchen) or unrelated. Performance did not reduce age differences in recall of the exact verbs and nouns used to describe an action, but performance did reduce age differences in memory for the gist of related actions. Older adults especially had difficulty recalling the exact verb used to describe the action. These results suggest that older adults may have better memory for actions than is revealed by tests of verbatim recall. They may remember performing the action but not remember the exact words used to describe the action.
成年人对已执行动作（如挥手）的记忆中的年龄差异，有时比在对未执行短语的记忆中的年龄差异要小。在本研究中，我们考察了执行动作能够减少回忆中年龄差异的条件。年轻和年长成年人执行或阅读相关（如在厨房中执行的动作）或不相关的动词 - 名词短语。执行动作并没有减少在回忆用于描述动作的精确动词和名词方面的年龄差异，但执行动作确实减少了在对相关动作要点的记忆方面的年龄差异。年长成年人尤其难以回忆起用于描述动作的精确动词。这些结果表明，年长成年人对动作的记忆可能比对逐字回忆测试所显示的更好。他们可能记得执行了该动作，但不记得用于描述该动作的确切词语。
