Same Goals, but Different Outcomes: Present-Focused versus Future-Focused Memory Beliefs Differentially Predict Young and Older Adults' Everyday Use of Memory Strategies.

Objective: We investigated whether beliefs about the current versus future effectiveness of memory strategies predict young and older adults' everyday strategy use.

Method: 103 young and 91 older adults reported their memory goals, beliefs about the current and future effectiveness of various strategies, and frequency of use of each strategy type.

Results: The two age groups equally valued current and future memory. Young adults' strategy selection related only to their beliefs about the strategies' current effectiveness; older adults utilized approaches they perceived as effective for improving both future and current memory.

Implications: Findings highlight the importance of the temporal nature of memory strategy beliefs.