Studying Memory in Older and Younger Adults

Memory worsens with age. The older we get, the harder it is to remember things. But when we do remember, how good are we at judging the accuracy of our recollections? Put another way: how confident are we that the stuff we recall matches the reality?ata from prior studies that suggest a decline across the lifespan in a person’s ability to assess the correctness of his or her memory, compared with younger people, who overall seem to do a better job. Researchers now are trying to learn even more about the differences between young and old, and confidence levels associated with memory, in simulating the kinds of situations associated with eyewitness criminal events. Research already has shown that DNA evidence indicates mistaken eyewitness identification has been the major piece of evidence in more than 75 percent of wrongful convictions, Dodson said. Their research could have important future implications in the criminal justice field.