Encoding Strategies and Recall Performance of a Complex Figure by Normal Elderly Subjects

Abstract This study included 150 subjects aged between 20 and 84, divided into 5 age groups. Analysis of their reproduction and immediate recall work of Rey's complex figure suggested that a) the encoding strategy used during the reproduction phase of this complex figure was not characteristic of a given age, b) elderly subjects reproduced less during the encoding phase and retrieved fewer elements during the recall phase, c) until the age of 74, there was a relationship between the encoding strategy and performance in recall; however, in our subjects aged over 75, memory problems developed differently and the relationship between the encoding strategy and the results in recall became insignificant.