A reasonable case can be made for the view that linguistic competence remains invariant across the adult life span (Light, 1988). Contrast this conclusion with one derived from the literature on aging and memory: Here age deficits of varying sizes are common (see Craik, 1983; Kausler, 1982). This is important to our general concern with discourse comprehension because there is every reason to believe that linguistic performance is constrained by memory functioning (Ciark & Clark, 1977; Just & Carpenter, 1987). Consider, for example, the performance of younger and older adults on two different tasks tapping knowledge of word meanings (Bowles & Poon, 1985). Younger and older adults did not di(fer on a task which required them to determine if each of a series of letter strings was a word. However, older adults showed poorer performance (as measured by accuracy and speed) on a task which required them to produce target words when cued with their definitions. The important difference between the two tasks appears to be the greater retrieval demands made by the definition task. These results fit well with the contention that memory factor~ar.e, .important determinants of the degree of age differences in linguistic
performance.
Transactive memory theory describes the processes by which benefits for memory can occur when remembering is shared in dyads or groups. In contrast, cognitive psychology experiments demonstrate that social influences on memory disrupt and inhibit individual recall. However, most research in cognitive psychology has focused on groups of strangers recalling relatively meaningless stimuli. This study examined social in:fiuences on memory in groups with a shared history, who were recalling a range of stimuli, from word lists to personal, shared memories. The study focused, in detail, on the products and processes of remembering during in-depth interviews with 12 older married couples. These interviews consisted of !bree recall tasks: (a) word list recall; (b) personal lis!recall, where stimuli were relevan!lo the couples' shared past; and (e) ao open-ended autobiographical ioterview. These tasks iodividually conducted aod then collaboratively conducted two weeks later. Across each of the tasks, although sorne couples demonstrated collaborative inhibition, others demonstrated collaborative facilitation. A number of factors were identified that predicted collaborative success-io particular, group level strategy use. The results show that collaboration may help or hinder memory, and certain interactions are
more likely to produce collaborative benefits.
Research in younger adults dissociates cognitive from affective facets of social information processing, rather than promoting a monolithic view of social intelligence. An influential theory on adult development suggests differential effects of aging on cognitive and affective functions. However, this dissociation has not been directly tested in the social domain. Employing a newly developed naturalistic paradigm that disentangles facets of the social mind within an individual, we show multi-directionality of age-related differences. Specifically, components of the sociocognitive route – Theory of Mind and metacognition – are impaired in older relative to younger adults. Nevertheless, these social capacities are still less affected by aging than factual reasoning and metacognition regarding non-social content. Importantly, the socio-affective route is wellfunctioning, with no decline in empathy and elevated compassion in the elderly. These findings contribute to an integrated theory of age-related change in social functioning and inform interventions tailored to specifically reinstate socio-cognitive skills in old age.