PERSONALITY AND METAMEMORY CORRELATES OF MEMORY PERFORMANCE IN YOUNGER AND OLDER ADULTS

Abstract

This study assessed the degree to which anxiety, hostility, depression, and metamemory predicted recall performance on a word list and a prose passage. Participants were 65 older (M = 68.7) and 65 younger (M = 19.0) adults. All participants completed a vocabulary test, the Metamemory in Adulthood instrument, the MAACL, the STAI, and prose and list‐learning tasks. Results indicated different patterns of personality predictors and some consistent metamemory predictors across tasks. Different measures of anxiety related differently to performance. Findings were discussed in terms of the complexity of memory performance, and the need for caution when choosing a measure of anxiety.