On the mechanisms of plasticity in young and older adults after instruction in the method of loci: evidence for an amplification model.

A meta-analytic review of the literature points out that young adults benefit more from instruction in mnemonic techniques than do older adults. In a study on memory plasticity after instruction in the method of loci, it was found that the cognitive mechanisms of plasticity in young and older adults are largely identical, with the age-related variables of speed of mental operations, associative memory, and number of list rehearsals as the core influences on plasticity. The data fit an amplification model of plasticity, in which variables positively associated with pretest performance and negatively associated with age are positively related to plasticity. Also, older adults were found to comply less with instructions, and when complying, to apply the method of loci correctly less often. Noncompliance, incorrect strategy use, and amplification might explain the adult age differences in treatment gain after instruction in a mnemonic technique.