No age difference was observed on the temporal task, but older adults performed worse on the spatial task. Results indicate normal aging is not associated with poor encoding or retention of all types of information, but affects retention of some information often assumed to be encoded automatically. (Author)

Recent efforts have been made to develop more age-appropriate intelligence measures for the elderly to determine the nature of age differences and changes in adult cognitive development. Spatial and reasoning performances of young, young-old and old-old individuals were compared on traditional versus familiar and presumably more meaningful…