In order to examine age differences in everyday memory experiences, twelve younger (mean age = 28) and twelve older (mean age = 59) adults kept diaries of their experiences of memory failures and use of memory aids. There was a general increase with age in the absolute number of memory failures, upset ratings about memory failures, and frequency of memory aid use. There were no age differences in the relative frequency of particular types of memory failures or memory aids that were used. The results suggested that older adults experience more memory failures and are more concerned about memory failures than younger adults, but that they attempt to deal with this problem by increased use of memory aids.

The relationship between aspects of knowledge about memory and immediate and delayed recall on prose and word-list tasks was examined. Ss were 100 young and 100 older adults. Vocabulary ability was screened. Memory knowledge was assessed by the Metamemory in Adulthood (MIA) scale and the Short Inventory of Memory Experiences (SIME). Capacity and change measures of the MIA correlated with most dimensions of the SIME for both age groups. The anxiety measure of the MIA correlated with SIME measures only for the young. Regression analyses showed that strategy (MIA) predicted performance only for young adults, change (MIA) predicted performance only for older adults, and capacity (MIA) predicted performance for both age groups. Metamemory variables accounted for equivalent amounts of variance in both prose and word-list tasks, although there was an indication that prediction was slightly better for prose. Future researchers need to address the apparent increase in affect-related predictors of memory performance.

Few attempts have been made to integrate research on memory beliefs across adulthood with related constructs in social cognition. This article addresses the issue of how respondents formulate answers to memory-beliefs questions from a social-cognitive perspective. We propose that reported memory beliefs represent the outcomes of a process that involves both the retrieval of previously stored information about self and about memory and on-line constructive processes. This article offers a set of assumptions that clarifies existing data on memory beliefs and generates new hypotheses regarding the interactions between beliefs about the aging process, memory, and constructs such as memory self-efficacy and how such variables combine with the on-line constructive processes to produce individual differences in responses.

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