Effects of aging on the recall of extended expository prose.

Groups of young and old adults read a 5 1/2 page passage of expository prose under one of two instructional treatments. Since previously observed deficits in older adults' memory may be due to the level of processing, one instructional treatment was intended to encourage deeper processing. Vocabulary and a measure of current reading activity were used as covariates. As with previous work, young adults recalled more than old adults and also had more intrusions in their recall protocols. There was no effect for instructional treatment but older adults showed the same sensitivity to the relative importance of information as younger adults.