Age differences in the ability to recall and summarize textual information.

In order to examine age differences in the ability to manipulate textual information, young and old adults were asked to recall and summarize prose passages. It was found that while older adults showed a moderate age-related decline in the amount of information recalled, they had considerable difficulties in summarizing the same material. It was thought that this deficiency was due to the inability of the older adults to simultaneously comprehend textual information and organize an effective summary of the information. These results, which suggest that older adults manifest an age-related decrement in effortful linguistic processes, were discussed in terms of Kintsch and van Dijk's [1978] model of discourse processing.