The effect of aging on facial prototype formation

Young and elderly subjects performed a recognition task on unfamiliar faces which were variations of a non-inspected prototype (procedure designed by Solso and McCarthy, 1981a). The test was taken immediately or six weeks later. Young subjects (n = 32) clearly replicated the performance of the Solso and McCarthy subjects, namely, very confident (false) recognition of the prototype and correct rejection of new stimuli in accordance with their similarity to the prototype. In addition, the results showed a strong analogy between elderly and young subjects. In particular, elderly subjects (n = 32) abstracted the never-seen prototype as well as younger subjects, even after six weeks. However, they were significantly less confident in rejecting new items.