Limited carry-over effects of socioemotional manipulations on subsequent unrelated memory tasks

Although age is typically associated with significant impairments in memory performance, several domains exist in which these impairments are reduced or even eliminated. These "pockets of preservation" in older adults' memory can be seen in tasks involving socioemotional processing and may be supported by distinct encoding or retrieval modes relative to neutral content. The current study examines whether engaging in socioemotional tasks prior to encoding or retrieval allows older adults to enter an encoding or retrieval mode that better supports memory performance. In two online studies, adults across the lifespan were asked to complete a memory task where they incidentally encoded and retrieved neutral (Experiment 1, N = 1621) or emotional (Experiment 2, N = 409) word-image pairs. Participants were randomly assigned to a control (i.e., no manipulation), pre-encoding, or pre-retrieval socioemotional manipulation condition. There were no main effects of manipulation condition, suggesting that such manipulations may not reliably enhance memory. However, future research is needed to follow up on exploratory analyses that highlighted particular conditions under which these manipulations may convey benefits. There were also no age-by-manipulation interactions. While these null effects may suggest that these manipulations are not better suited to older adults, this may also be a result of the unexpected age-related increases (Experiment 1) and age invariance (Experiment 2) in overall memory accuracy in the current study. Socioemotional manipulations should also be examined in older adults who underperform younger adults.