Visual Short-term Memory and Aging in Chess Players

Young (M = 20 years) and older (M = 54 years) equally skilled chessplayers reconstructed slides of chess diagrams shown for 1, 2, and 4 sec either immediately or following 15 sec of interpolated processing. Recall was more accurate for younger players, with the gap widening as viewing time increased. Interpolated processing decreased accuracy and increased retrieval time equally in the two groups. Measures of chunking indicated no age-related differences. These results imply that there is an age-related deficit in encoding but not retrieval for visual short-term memory. Since young and old were affected equivalently by interpolated processing, it appears likely that they have similar memory consolidation functions. Since the players were equally skilled, the results contradict the view that skill in chess derives primarily from encoding ability.