Recent research has produced disagreement about the usage and usefulness of external memory aids across age groups. The present study examined the use and perceived usefulness of commercial memory aids as a function of the ages of users and potential users. Three age groups (ages 20, 45, and 65 years) were asked to indicate whether they owned each of thirty different commercial aids and, regardless of ownership, to rate the degree of usefulness of each of the aids. Each age group used certain aids or perceived certain aids as more useful, than did other age groups. The pattern of results suggest that memory aid usage differs with age partly because the memory tasks required of a person change with life stage.
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