Spatial memory in young and older adults: environmental support and contextual influences at encoding and retrieval.

Previous studies have demonstrated the existence of an "unequal facilitation" effect in spatial memory. In those experiments, the provision of appropriate environmental support for recall was shown to enhance the recall performance of older adults more than that of young adults. In some cases, this process resulted in parity of performance between the two age groups. The present study evaluated the relative contribution of environmental support to the unequal facilitation effect at encoding and retrieval in a spatial memory task. Results, indicate that, although the provision of environmental support at both encoding and retrieval is necessary for optimal recall across the adult life span, the primary influence of such support for recall in the elderly derives from its presence at encoding.