Age-related differences in adults' ability to follow spoken instructions.

ABSTRACT: A growing body of research illustrates that working memory capacity is a crucial limiting factor in our ability to follow spoken instructions. Despite the ubiquitous nature of instruction following throughout the lifespan, how the natural ageing process affects the ability to do so is not yet fully understood. In this study, we investigated the consequences of action at encoding and recall on the ability to follow spoken instructions. Younger (< 30 y/o) and older (> 65 y/o) adults recalled sequences of spoken action commands under presentation and recall conditions that either did or did not involve their physical performance. Both groups showed an enacted-recall advantage, with superior recall by physical performance than oral repetition. When both encoding and recall were purely verbal,

SUBMITTER: Jaroslawska AJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7613123 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature