Age-related cognitive deficits may be diminished by tapping into prior knowledge structures. We investigated age-related differences in the formation and updating of schemas and examined whether the memory benefits of recently acquired schemas would be preserved in older adults. Data were collected from 60 older adults (M = 66.2, SD = 9.3 years) and 59 adolescents recruited from Singapore's top schools (M = 16.6, SD = 0.9 years) who learnt the age hierarchy of six galaxies to criterion by viewing neighboring pairs one at a time, for example A-B, D-E, C-D, enabling the formation of a schema via transitive inference (i.e., if B > C and C > D then B > D). Once learning reached criterion, two new sets of galaxies were presented: one comprising four galaxies from the schema intercalated with four new galaxies (schema condition) and the other comprising eight unfamiliar galaxies (no schema condition). Participants were then tested on both neighboring pairs (noninference) and inference pairs: (B-D, B-E, C-E). Compared with adolescents, older adults required a significantly higher number of learning blocks to successfully form a schema. Nonetheless, the acquired schema significantly aided relational memory and facilitated the making of novel inferences in older adults. This schema benefit was particularly pronounced in supporting novel inferences, boosting performance in older adults to levels comparable with adolescents (59% vs. 61%). These results suggest that older adults can effectively form new schemas with extended practice. Schema-driven memory benefits are preserved with aging and appear to mitigate age-related memory deficits, optimizing cognitive performance in making novel inferences. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

中文翻译：

---

模式驱动的记忆优势促进了老年人的传递推理。

通过利用先前的知识结构可以减少与年龄相关的认知缺陷。我们调查了与年龄相关的图式形成和更新的差异，并检查了最近获得的图式的记忆益处是否会在老年人中保留。从新加坡顶尖学校招募的 60 名老年人（M = 66.2，SD = 9.3 岁）和 59 名青少年（M = 16.6，SD = 0.9 岁）收集数据，他们通过查看相邻的一对一来学习六个星系的年龄等级以进行标准一次，例如 AB、DE、CD，能够通过传递推理形成模式（即，如果 B > C 和 C > D，则 B > D）。一旦学习达到标准，就会出现两组新的星系：一个包含来自模式的四个星系，中间插入了四个新星系（模式条件），另一个包含八个不熟悉的星系（无模式条件）。然后在相邻对（非推理）和推理对（BD、BE、CE）上对参与者进行测试。与青少年相比，老年人需要更多的学习模块才能成功形成图式。尽管如此，获得的图式显着帮助了关系记忆，并促进了老年人的新推论。这种模式的好处在支持新推论方面尤为明显，将老年人的表现提高到与青少年相当的水平（59% 对 61%）。这些结果表明，老年人可以通过扩展练习有效地形成新的图式。模式驱动的记忆益处随着年龄的增长而保留，似乎可以减轻与年龄相关的记忆缺陷，优化在进行新推理时的认知表现。（PsycInfo 数据库记录 (c) 2021 APA，保留所有权利）。