Examining a Potential Alcohol-Based Stereotype Threat on Memory Performance in Younger and Older Adults

Abstract

The activation of age-based stereotypes associated with cognitive decline has been shown too negatively impact the memory performance of older adults relative to conditions in which those stereotypes are not activated (Barber & Mather, 2014). The current study is an expansion of memory-based stereotype threat research in older populations targeting a possible alcohol-based threat on episodic memory performance assessed via the Deese-Roediger-McDermott (DRM) false memory task (Roediger & McDermott, 1995). Although this effect has been shown to impact younger adults’ inhibitory control (Pennington, Qureshi, Monk, & Heim, 2016), no studies have yet examined its impact on memory performance, and no studies have examined this phenomenon in older adults. Results are discussed in terms of the relative impact of each type of threat on memory performance within each age group.