Aging and the category-recall relationship.

Sixty-four young adults (20.16 years) and retirees (aged 67.03) sorted 48 unrelated words into two, four, six, or eight categories prior to recall. High- and low-frequency lists were tested, a manipulation that only affected the young adults. Surprisingly, overall initial recall was equally high for both groups, but the effect of increasing numbers of categories on recall differed dramatically for young and old adults. Subsequent assessment of long-term recall showed greater memory loss for the old adults.