Encoding and memory of explicit and implicit information.

The usefulness of a general capacity model for predicting age differences in memory for critical information in text was assessed. Passages that either explicitly stated or implied, in either a predictable or unpredictable manner, a fact central to understanding were read to study participants. No age differences were obtained in the recall of explicit central facts, but the younger adults outperformed the older adults when these facts had to be inferred. A revised capacity model, which implicates encoding processes in the breakdown of inference formation, is outlined to account for these and other data.