Mitigating the Associate Memory Deficit in Older Adults: The Effects of Value and Schematic Support in Word Pair and Face-Word Pair Memory

Two studies assessed the effects of value and schematic support (i.e., prior knowledge) on young and older adults’ item and pair memory. Externally assigned values eliminated older adults’ associative memory deficit for word-pairs (Study 1). Older adults benefited more from schematic support and self-perceived values than young adults (Study 2).