Does believing in "use it or lose it" relate to self-rated memory control, strategy use, and recall?

Abstract

After an oral free recall task, participants were interviewed about their memory. Despite reporting similar levels of perceived personal control over memory, older and young adults differed in the means in which they believed memory could be controlled. Older adults cited health and wellness practices and exercising memory, consistent with a "use it or lose it" belief system, more often than young adults who were more likely to mention metacognition and flexible strategy use as means of memory control. Young adults reported using more effective relational strategies during study for a free recall test. Use of relational strategies predicted recall in both age groups, but did not materially affect age differences in performance. Metacognitive beliefs, including implicit theories about aging and memory decline, memory self-concept, and perceived control over memory functioning, did not systematically correlate with strategy use or recall.

Figure 1

Perceived developmental changes in general memory ability for the average adult from age 20 to age 90, graphed separately for young adult and older adult raters.

Figure 2

Perceived developmental changes in current control over memory for the average adult from age 20 to age 90, graphed separately for young adult and older adult raters.

Figure 3

Perceived developmental changes in control over future memory functioning (prospective control) for the average adult from age 20 to age 90, graphed separately for young adult and older adult raters.