Properties of short-term memory for faces (Exp. 1) were investigated in 40 young and 30 elderly persons and compared with short-term memory for nonverbal shapes (Exp. 2) with 30 new persons in a young group and an elderly one. Young subjects displayed a U-shaped curve for both kinds of stimuli, and elderly subjects displayed a U-shaped curve, but the recency effect was abolished for faces (in one condition). This suggests a possible specific short-term store for faces.
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