B. J. F. Meyer's approach to prose analysis is utilized in this paper to examine differences in learning and memory of text by readers across the adult lifespan. The analysis system is described briefly and compared to other approaches. Several studies are then summarized that employ this hierarchical analysis system to study learner characteristics of age and verbal ability. The paper concludes from these studies that age appears to influence strategies for deciding what is important to remember from text. It then reports on other studies that show that age and verbal ability appear to influence the ability of learners to utilize conceptual realtionships in hierarchically organized prose. (Author/FL)