The Effects of Input Condition on Free Recall in Young and Old Adults

Free recall lists were presented to young (17 to 19, N = 42) and old (60 to 70, N = 42) males under three conditions: (a) active auditory — subjects read words aloud; (b) passive auditory — experimenter read words aloud as shown; (c) visual only — no one read words aloud. For words from the end of a list, recall was best at the active-auditory condition and worst at the visual-only condition for both age groups. For words from the beginning of a list, recall was best at the visual-only condition and worst at the active-auditory condition for both age groups. The young group recalled more words than the old at each presentation position under each condition.