Associative memory for honest and dishonest faces in younger and older adults

Abstract

Older adults often show a deficit in associative memory for faces paired with pieces of information. Older adults also have a heightened trust for faces despite the information the faces are associated with, in some cases. The present study investigated young and older adults' associative memory for faces associated with scams, donations, or a neutral label and whether trustworthiness would be reflective of these associations. In three experiments, participants viewed faces associated with these labels for either 6 s (Experiment 1), 3 s (Experiment 2), or unlimited time (Experiment 3) and were tested on their memory for the labels. In addition, they rated the faces on their honesty before and after the label was presented. While young adults were more accurate than older adults when recalling the associated labels overall, both age groups showed a significant reduction in honesty ratings for the faces associated with scams after the association was made in all experiments. Therefore, these results illustrate that despite associative memory deficits, older adults can adjust their trust ratings for faces based on learning associative information regarding scams and fraud. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).