Age-related decline in directed forgetting: a meta-analytic test of inhibition versus cognitive load accounts.
- 1School of Psychology, Jiangxi Normal University, NanChang, China.
- 2School of Chinese Language and Literature, Jiangxi Normal University, NanChang, China.
- 3School of Psychology, Jiangxi Normal University, NanChang, China. [email protected].
Abstract
Background
Aging is associated with changes in intentional forgetting, with a smaller directed forgetting (DF) effect in older than in younger adults. The inhibition account attributes age-related reductions in the DF effect to a failure to suppress to-be-forgotten (TBF) items, predicting better TBF memory in older adults. By contrast, the cognitive load hypothesis attributes this reduction to a general resource limitation that disproportionately impairs the encoding of to-be-remembered (TBR) items, predicting a larger age deficit for TBR than for TBF items.Methods
This meta-analysis tested these predictions by separately synthesizing the effects of age on TBR and TBF memory, using the item-method DF paradigm.Results
Based on 88 effect sizes from 21 studies, a three-level meta-analysis revealed a significant age deficit for TBR items (g = 0.379, SE = 0.12, t = 3.08, p < .001, 95% CI [0.135, 0.623]), but a non-significant effect for TBF items (g = 0.050, SE = 0.08, t = 0.59, p = .555, 95% CI [- 0.117, 0.216]). Moderator analyses emphasized the role of cognitive resources: processing requirements, free recall tests, and laboratory settings amplified the age deficit, particularly for TBF items. More years of education in older adults attenuated these age differences.Conclusions
These findings are more consistent with the cognitive load hypothesis than with the inhibition account, although the two accounts need not be mutually exclusive, given that certain conditions under which inhibition might emerge were not directly testable in the present meta-analysis.
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BibTeX
@article{pan2026agerelated,
title = {{Age-related decline in directed forgetting: a meta-analytic test of inhibition versus cognitive load accounts.}},
author = {Chenyu Pan and Nan Jiang and Fuhong Li},
journal = {BMC psychology},
year = {2026},
month = aug,
doi = {10.1186/s40359-026-05299-3},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42968116},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Age-related decline in directed forgetting: a meta-analytic test of inhibition versus cognitive load accounts.
AU - Chenyu Pan
AU - Nan Jiang
AU - Fuhong Li
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/08/05
JO - BMC psychology
DO - 10.1186/s40359-026-05299-3
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42968116
AB - Background Aging is associated with changes in intentional forgetting, with a smaller directed forgetting (DF) effect in older than in younger adults. The inhibition account attributes age-related reductions in the DF effect to a failure to suppress to-be-forgotten (TBF) items, predicting better TBF memory in older adults. By contrast, the cognitive load hypothesis attributes this reduction to a general resource limitation that disproportionately impairs the encoding of to-be-remembered (TBR) items, predicting a larger age deficit for TBR than for TBF items.Methods This meta-analysis tested these predictions by separately synthesizing the effects of age on TBR and TBF memory, using the item-method DF paradigm.Results Based on 88 effect sizes from 21 studies, a three-level meta-analysis revealed a significant age deficit for TBR items (g = 0.379, SE = 0.12, t = 3.08, p < .001, 95% CI [0.135, 0.623]), but a non-significant effect for TBF items (g = 0.050, SE = 0.08, t = 0.59, p = .555, 95% CI [- 0.117, 0.216]). Moderator analyses emphasized the role of cognitive resources: processing requirements, free recall tests, and laboratory settings amplified the age deficit, particularly for TBF items. More years of education in older adults attenuated these age differences.Conclusions These findings are more consistent with the cognitive load hypothesis than with the inhibition account, although the two accounts need not be mutually exclusive, given that certain conditions under which inhibition might emerge were not directly testable in the present meta-analysis.
SN - 2050-7283
ER -