The price is right: the impacts of age, quantitative knowledge, working memory, and congnitive strategy use on memory for quantitative information

Research has demonstrated that experts, or those with more knowledge within a particular domain, tend to have better memory for information within that domain. However, there is conflicting evidence as to whether domain knowledge can moderate the relationship between aging and recall. This study tested three models in which knowledge for prices in a grocery shopping domain could moderate the relationship between either age or working memory capacity (WMC), and immediate recall of prices of grocery items. One hundred ninety-eight women memorized and recalled grocery items and their prices divided into realistic and fictitious item categories. Domain knowledge, assessed using a 30-item multiple choice test, was associated with overall recall as was WMC. A small interaction was found in which higher levels of domain knowledge facilitated the recall of realistic over fictitious cue-stem pairs. Supplementary analyses found an association between WMC and overall gist recall. A small interaction was found in which higher levels of WMC facilitated the gist recall of realistic over fictitious cue-stem pairs. Use of more efficient strategies facilitated recall of both types of cue-stem pairs. These results provide support for an over-additive model in which recall is facilitated more for those with higher levels of WMC or domain knowledge. Implications of these findings with relation to the extant body of literature are discussed, including recommendations for future research in this area.