The effects of instructions on recall and recognition of categorized lists by the elderly

Sixty noninstitutionalized elderly people were tested for recall of both taxonomic and thematically related lists. On Trial 1, subjects were instructed either to look at, categorize, or remember the pictures; on Trial 2, they were all required only to look at the items. Subjects instructed to remember or categorize recalled and clustered more than subjects required only to look. Although there were no differences due to category type on the first trial, when freed from the restriction to organize or memorize on Trial 2, subjects performed better on the thematic lists. The results are discussed in terms of the possible effects of institutionalization and age-related shifts in the logical basis for classification.