Colour perception linked to age differences in memory precision
An observational study of 55 young and 54 older adults linked differences in colour perception to how precisely they remembered object colours.
Limit: Individual changes in perception and memory with aging were not measured
An observational study compared 55 young adults aged 18–25 with 54 older adults aged 68–86 without clinically detected impairment. All had normal colour vision. Participants recalled the colours of previously seen objects, rated how similar colours looked and completed a colour-matching task.
Older adults remembered object colours less precisely, and the groups differed in colour perception. The researchers used similarity ratings to build a simpler statistical model that accounted for how each age group perceived colours. It fitted memory responses better than a model that separately estimated memory precision and outright forgetting. Replacing older adults’ perception data with younger adults’ data worsened the fit to older adults’ memory responses. This supported a link between age-related differences in perception and memory precision.
Why it matters
Research into cognitive aging depends on interpreting memory tests accurately. This work addresses how researchers distinguish changes in remembering from changes in perception.
Caveats
This observational comparison cannot establish that perception caused the memory differences or show how individuals changed as they aged. The preprint has not been peer-reviewed, and its older participants were clinically unimpaired.
The paper
PsyArXiv, 15 Oct 2026, Open access, Preprint, not peer-reviewed
