Collectively, these observations indicate that the simultaneous presentation of targets and foils in the Forced Choice test considerably reduces demands on strategic retrieval, thereby enabling a more direct assessment of the availability of object details and the contribution of this factor to increases in false recognition. In the present study, we directly compare older and younger adults’ performance across test formats to characterize the relative contribution of these two factors to elevated rates of lure false recognition with age. If older adults exhibit selective deficits in Yes/No performance, coupled with intact Forced Choice performance, then this would suggest that age-related increases in false recognition are driven primarily by impairments in strategic retrieval processes. However, if older adults also exhibit deficits in Forced Choice performance, this would suggest that a decline in the availability of object details that are necessary to disambiguate targets and foils contributes to increases in lure false recognition with age, and may be the primary factor driving impaired performance.