Interrelation of Two Types of Immediate Memory in the Aged

Abstract

The interrelationship of digit span and word span was studied in a group of 112 females, 17-81 years of age. When the subjects were assigned to groups of 38 young ([Xbar] = 25.6 years), 39 middle-aged ([Xbar] = 53.2 years), and 35 old ([Xbar] = 73.3 years), the correlation between the two types of span was larger in the old than in the young, reflecting a predicted greater degree of homogeneity of functioning. When spans were scored without consideration for exact order of recall, this finding no longer held, as was the case with a capacity decrement in digit span with the aged, thus reflecting the importance of the organizational factor in senescent memory ability.