Toward an Understanding of Individual Differences in Episodic Memory: Modeling the Dynamics Of Recognition Memory

Retrieval results in both costs and benefits to episodic memory. Output interference (OI) refers to the finding that episodic memory accuracy decreases with increasing test trials. Release from OI is the restoration of original accuracy at some point during the test. For example, a release from OI in recognition memory testing occurs when the semantic similarity between stimuli decreases midway through testing, suggesting that item representations stored on early trials cause interference on tests occurring on later trials to the extent that the earlier items share features with the latter items. In two recognition memory experiments, we demonstrate release from OI for words and faces. We also test whether release from OI is the result of interference or is due to a boost in attention caused by reorienting to a novel stimulus type. A test for the foils presented during the initial test list supports the interference account of OI. Implications for models of memory are discussed.

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Rhythmic Activity and Individual Variability in Recognition Memory: Theta Oscillations Correlate with Performance whereas Alpha Oscillations Correlate with ERPs

Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience ◽

10.1162/jocn_a_01033 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 29 (1) ◽

pp. 183-202 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Yvonne Y. Chen ◽

Jeremy B. Caplan

Keyword(s):

Individual Differences ◽

Recognition Memory ◽

Memory Task ◽

Rhythmic Activity ◽

Individual Variability ◽

Theta Oscillations ◽

Alpha Oscillations ◽

Alpha Oscillation ◽

Familiarity And Recollection ◽

Visual Inattention

During study trials of a recognition memory task, alpha (∼10 Hz) oscillations decrease, and concurrently, theta (4–8 Hz) oscillations increase when later memory is successful versus unsuccessful (subsequent memory effect). Likewise, at test, reduced alpha and increased theta activity are associated with successful memory (retrieval success effect). Here we take an individual-differences approach to test three hypotheses about theta and alpha oscillations in verbal, old/new recognition, measuring the difference in oscillations between hit trials and miss trials. First, we test the hypothesis that theta and alpha oscillations have a moderately mutually exclusive relationship; but no support for this hypothesis was found. Second, we test the hypothesis that theta oscillations explain not only memory effects within participants, but also individual differences. Supporting this prediction, durations of theta (but not alpha) oscillations at study and at test correlated significantly with d′ across participants. Third, we test the hypothesis that theta and alpha oscillations reflect familiarity and recollection processes by comparing oscillation measures to ERPs that are implicated in familiarity and recollection. The alpha-oscillation effects correlated with some ERP measures, but inversely, suggesting that the actions of alpha oscillations on memory processes are distinct from the roles of familiarity- and recollection-linked ERP signals. The theta-oscillation measures, despite differentiating hits from misses, did not correlate with any ERP measure; thus, theta oscillations may reflect elaborative processes not tapped by recollection-related ERPs. Our findings are consistent with alpha oscillations reflecting visual inattention, which can modulate memory, and with theta oscillations supporting recognition memory in ways that complement the most commonly studied ERPs.

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Individual Differences in Holistic Processing Predict the Own-Race Advantage in Recognition Memory

PLoS ONE ◽

10.1371/journal.pone.0058253 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 8 (4) ◽

pp. e58253 ◽

Cited By ~ 27

Author(s):

Joseph DeGutis ◽

Rogelio J. Mercado ◽

Jeremy Wilmer ◽

Andrew Rosenblatt

Keyword(s):

Individual Differences ◽

Recognition Memory ◽

Holistic Processing

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Individual differences in EEG correlates of recognition memory due to DAT polymorphisms

Brain and Behavior ◽

10.1002/brb3.870 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 7 (12) ◽

pp. e00870 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Paolo Medrano ◽

Erika Nyhus ◽

Andrew Smolen ◽

Tim Curran ◽

Robert S. Ross

Keyword(s):

Individual Differences ◽

Recognition Memory

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Age-related differences in recognition memory for items and associations: Contribution of individual differences in working memory and metamemory.

Psychology and Aging ◽

10.1037/a0026714 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 27 (3) ◽

pp. 691-700 ◽

Cited By ~ 16

Author(s):

Andrew R. Bender ◽

Naftali Raz

Keyword(s):

Working Memory ◽

Individual Differences ◽

Recognition Memory ◽

Age Related

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The Effect of Baseline Performance and Age on Cognitive Training Improvements in Older Adults: A Qualitative Review

Journal of Prevention of Alzheimer's Disease ◽

10.14283/jpad.2020.55 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 1-10

Author(s):

J.S. Shaw ◽

S.M.H. Hosseini

Keyword(s):

Alzheimer’S Disease ◽

Alzheimer's Disease ◽

Working Memory ◽

Individual Differences ◽

Executive Functioning ◽

Episodic Memory ◽

Old Age ◽

Cognitive Training ◽

Cognitive Abilities ◽

Baseline Performance

Findings that the brain is capable of plasticity up until old age have led to interest in the use of cognitive training as a potential intervention to delay the onset of dementia. However, individuals participating in training regimens differ greatly with respect to their outcomes, demonstrating the importance of considering individual differences, in particular age and baseline performance in a cognitive domain, when evaluating the effectiveness of cognitive training. In this review, we summarize existing literature on cognitive training in adults across the domains of episodic memory, working memory and the task-switching component of executive functioning to clarify the picture on the impact of age and baseline performance on cognitive training-related improvements. Studies targeting episodic memory induced greater improvements in younger adults with more intact cognitive abilities, explained in part by factors specific to episodic memory training. By contrast, older, lower baseline performance adults improved most in several studies targeting working memory in older individuals as well as in the majority of studies targeting executive functioning, suggesting the preservation of neural plasticity in these domains until very old age. Our findings can have important implications for informing the design of future interventions for enhancing cognitive functions in individuals at the prodromal stage of Alzheimer’s Disease and potentially delaying the clinical onset of Alzheimer’s Disease. Future research should more clearly stratify individuals according to their baseline cognitive abilities and assign specialized, skill-specific cognitive training regimens in order to directly answer the question of how individual differences impact training effectiveness.

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Appraisal of self-reference, delusional ideation and memory in a normal sample

10.32920/ryerson.14648172.v1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Madelaine Clair Burley

Keyword(s):

Cognitive Impairment ◽

Individual Differences ◽

Recognition Memory ◽

Dependent Measure ◽

Normal Sample ◽

Achievement Scores ◽

Point Scale ◽

Hit Rate ◽

Self Reference ◽

Normal Adults

I investigated whether self-referent appraisal bias (SRB) mediates the relation between delusional thinking and self-referent memory (SRM). Forty normal adults participated. Participants rated how much 80 statements were about them on a five-point scale and the ratings were summed to operationalize SRB. Corrected hit rate (Pr) from an incidental recognition memory test for these statements was the dependent measure of SRM. Peters Delusion Inventory (PDI) scores correlated with Pr (r=-.34) and there was a trend toward correlation between SRB and Pr (r=-.25). SRB mediated the relation between PDI score and Pr with age, standardized memory and language achievement scores as covariates (Baron & Kenny, 1986). Bootstrapping analyses confirmed that the change in the model was significant with SRB as a mediator. These findings suggest that individual differences, such as SRB, mediate SRM performance. This suggests that such subtle biases could mediate cognitive impairment in psychosis, which has implications for treatment.

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Functional Connectivity during Encoding Predicts Individual Differences in Long-Term Memory

Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience ◽

10.1162/jocn_a_01759 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-18

Author(s):

Qi Lin ◽

Kwangsun Yoo ◽

Xilin Shen ◽

Todd R. Constable ◽

Marvin M. Chun

Keyword(s):

Working Memory ◽

Individual Differences ◽

Functional Connectivity ◽

Recognition Memory ◽

Memory Model ◽

Long Term Memory ◽

Whole Brain ◽

Term Memory ◽

Back Task

Abstract What is the neural basis of individual differences in the ability to hold information in long-term memory (LTM)? Here, we first characterize two whole-brain functional connectivity networks based on fMRI data acquired during an n-back task that robustly predict individual differences in two important forms of LTM, recognition and recollection. We then focus on the recognition memory model and contrast it with a working memory model. Although functional connectivity during the n-back task also predicts working memory performance and the two networks have some shared components, they are also largely distinct from each other: The recognition memory model performance remains robust when we control for working memory, and vice versa. Functional connectivity only within regions traditionally associated with LTM formation, such as the medial temporal lobe and those that show univariate subsequent memory effect, have little predictive power for both forms of LTM. Interestingly, the interactions between these regions and other brain regions play a more substantial role in predicting recollection memory than recognition memory. These results demonstrate that individual differences in LTM are dependent on the configuration of a whole-brain functional network including but not limited to regions associated with LTM during encoding and that such a network is separable from what supports the retention of information in working memory.

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