Who did what? Differences between younger and older adults in memory for a robbery

Abstract

Due to the increased life expectancy of the older population, there is a growing probability for an elderly person to testify as an eyewitness or a victim of a robbery or a similar crime. However, little is known about aging effects on testimony accuracy and about circumstances in which older adults would be more prone to memory errors than younger adults. In this study older and younger adults´ memory for actions of a robbery was examined with a recognition test. Although no differences were found in hits, the older adults had a higher proportion of false alarms and showed less accurate recognition than younger adults. In addition, the older adults were less able to attribute actions that occurred during the robbery to their correct sources.  Thus, source-memory deficits may contribute to explain older adults’ less accurate recognition, a finding that should be taken into account in real-life eyewitness situations where an elderly person is involved.