scholarly journals Same face, same place, different memory: manner of presentation modulates the associative deficit in older adults

2017 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 44-57 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amy A. Overman ◽  
Nancy A. Dennis ◽  
John M. McCormick-Huhn ◽  
Abigail B. Steinsiek ◽  
Luisa B. Cesar
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Associative Deficit

scholarly journals Relational binding and holistic retrieval in aging

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chi Ngo ◽  
Nora Newcombe
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Episodic Memory ◽  
Cognitive Aging ◽  
Memory Capacity ◽  
Cognitive Status ◽  
Verbal Iq ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Associative Deficit ◽  
General Cognitive Status ◽  
Relational Binding

Episodic memory binds together diverse elements of an event into a cohesive unit. This property enables the reconstruction of multidimensional experiences when triggered by a cue related to a past event via pattern completion processes. Such holistic retrieval is evident in young adults, as shown by dependency in the retrieval success for different associations from the same event (Horner & Burgess, 2013, 2014). Aspects of episodic memory capacity are vulnerable to aging processes, as shown by reduced abilities to form linkages within an event through relational binding (associative deficit hypothesis: Naveh-Benjamin, 2002). However, prior work has not examined whether this reduction affects holistic retrieval in typical aging. Here, we leveraged dependency analyses to examine whether older adults remember or forget events holistically, and whether the degree of holistic retrieval declines with old age. We found evidence for continued holistic retrieval, because accuracy for one aspect of an event predicted accuracy for other aspects of the same event. Younger and older adults did not differ in the degree of holistic recollection, despite robust age-related differences in relational binding. However, within the group of older adults, holistic recollection showed a significant decline with advancing age, controlling for pairwise relational binding performance, verbal IQ, and general cognitive status. These results suggest that a decline in holistic retrieval is an aspect of episodic memory decrements later in cognitive aging.

Implicit Relational Memory in Young and Older Adults

2007 ◽  
Vol 215 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-34 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ilana T.Z. Dew ◽  
Ute J. Bayen ◽  
Kelly S. Giovanello
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Young Adults ◽  
Implicit Memory ◽  
Associative Memory ◽  
Memory Performance ◽  
Relational Memory ◽  
Memory Research ◽  
New Associations ◽  
Associative Deficit ◽  
Theoretical Issues

Abstract. Older adults do not perform as well as young adults in explicit episodic memory tasks that require the formation and retrieval of new associations. Relatively few studies have investigated the effects of older adults' associative deficit on implicit-memory performance. After introducing the reader to the area of implicit-memory research at large, the authors review studies that have investigated young and older adults' performance in implicit associative memory tasks. Core theoretical issues and methodological challenges are discussed.

The effects of stereotype threat on the associative memory deficit of older adults

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Matthew S. Brubaker
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Stereotype Threat ◽  
Associative Memory ◽  
Memory Performance ◽  
Memory Deficit ◽  
Item Memory ◽  
University Of Missouri ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Associative Deficit ◽  
Negative Effect

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT REQUEST OF AUTHOR.] One of the suggestions made in the literature regarding older adults' episodic memory decline is that it is caused by their reduced ability to bind together components of an episode and retrieve the binding (termed an associative deficit). The purpose of the current research is to assess whether the age-related associative memory deficit is at least partially mediated by stereotype threat, which has been shown to negatively affect performance on a wide variety of cognitive tasks, including memory performance of older adults. To date the effects of stereotype threat on older adults' memory performance have only been shown using tests of item memory, and between subject manipulations. The question assessed in the current research is whether older adults' associative memory will be affected by stereotype threat more than item memory, rendering it one potential factor underlying the associative deficit. To answer this question, three experiments were conducted, which used an item-associative recognition memory paradigm while manipulating stereotype threat both within and between subjects. The first two experiments attempted to establish the baseline effect by directly comparing item and associative memory in younger and older adults under induced stereotype threat, reduced stereotype threat, and no stereotype threat (i.e. control) conditions. While a baseline age-related associative deficit was not shown in the control condition, inducing stereotype threat did have a significant negative effect on older adults' associative memory performance without affecting item memory performance -- suggesting that stereotype threat does increase the age-related associative deficit. The third experiment further assessed the stage of processing -- encoding, retrieval, or both -- during which the effect of stereotype threat on older adults' memory occurs. Results showed that when stereotype threat was induced only at retrieval, memory performance was in line with performance with the reduced stereotype threat and control conditions, suggesting that this effect of stereotype threat occurs primarily during encoding of the information.

scholarly journals Does limited working-memory capacity underlie age differences in associative long-term memory?

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lea Maria Bartsch ◽  
Vanessa Maria Loaiza ◽  
Klaus Oberauer
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Working Memory ◽  
Age Differences ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Presentation Rate ◽  
Past Research ◽  
Long Term Memory ◽  
Adult Age ◽  
Set Size ◽  
Associative Deficit

Past research has consistently shown that episodic memory (EM) declines with adult age and, according to the associative-deficit hypothesis, the locus of this decline is binding difficulties. We investigated the importance of establishing and maintaining bindings in working memory (WM) for age differences in associative EM. In Experiment 1 we adapted the presentation rate of word pairs for each participant to achieve 67% correct responses during a WM test of bindings in young and older adults. EM for the pairs was tested thereafter in the same way as WM. Equating WM for bindings between young and older adults reduced, but did not fully eliminate, the associative EM deficit in the older adults. In Experiment 2 we varied the set size of word pairs in a WM test, retaining the mean presentation rates for each age group from Experiment 1. If a WM deficit at encoding causes the EM deficit in older adults, both WM and EM performance should decrease with increasing set size. Against this prediction, increasing set size did not affect EM. We conclude that reduced WM capacity does not cause the EM deficit of older adults. Rather, both WM and EM deficits are reflections of a common cause, which can be compensated for by longer encoding time.

Short Article: Age-Related Differences in the Von Restorff Isolation Effect

2008 ◽  
Vol 61 (3) ◽  
pp. 345-352 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tamra J. Bireta ◽  
Aimée M. Surprenant ◽  
Ian Neath
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Memory Performance ◽  
Short Article ◽  
Younger Adults ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Associative Deficit ◽  
Adults And Children ◽  
Von Restorff Effect ◽  
List Memory ◽  
Physical Manipulation

When one item is made distinct from the other items in a list, memory for the distinctive item is improved, a finding known as the isolation or von Restorff effect (after von Restorff, 1933). Although demonstrated numerous times with younger adults and children, this effect has not been found with older adults (Cimbalo & Brink, 1982). In contrast to the earlier study, we obtained a significant von Restorff effect for both younger and older adults using a physical manipulation of font colour. The effect size for older adults was smaller than that obtained for younger adults, confirming a prediction of Naveh-Benjamin's (2000) associative deficit hypothesis, which attributes age-related differences in memory performance to older adults’ reduced ability to form associations. The findings are consistent with related research in which older adults demonstrate similar—but smaller—benefits for distinctive information to those for younger adults.

scholarly journals Age-related associative memory deficit: simulation and strategies to improve performance

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brenda Iok Wong
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Young Adults ◽  
Associative Memory ◽  
Divided Attention ◽  
Resource Competition ◽  
Memory Performance ◽  
Attentional Resources ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Associative Deficit ◽  
Encoding Strategies

According to the associative deficit hypothesis, older adults experience greater difficulty in remembering associations between pieces of information (associative memory) than young adults, despite their relatively intact memory for individual items (item memory). Recent research suggests that this deficit might be related to older adults’ reduced availability of attentional resources – the reservoir of mental energy needed for the operations of cognition functions. The purpose of this Dissertation was to examine the role of attentional resources in associative deficit, and to explore encoding manipulations that might alleviate the deficit in older adults. In Study 1, young adults’ attentional resources during encoding of word pairs were depleted using a divided attention task. These participants showed an associative deficit commonly observed in older adults, and were less likely to use effective encoding strategies and recollection-based processes to support their memory in comparison to young adults under full attention. The resemblance in memory performance between young adults under divided attention and older adults suggests that lack of attentional resources might be a contributing factor in older adults’ associative deficit. In Study 2, participants’ resource load during encoding was reduced by learning individual items and their associations sequentially in two phases. Older adults in this condition showed equivalent memory performance to young adults, and were more likely to use effective encoding strategies and recollection-based processes than older adults in Study 1 who studied items and associations simultaneously. Finally, Study 3 employed a value-directed learning paradigm, in which participants studied high- and low-value word pairs. Older adults showed similar memory performance for both high- and low-value word pairs as young adults, without any signs of associative deficit. Assigning value to associative information might prompt older adults to prioritize associative encoding over item encoding, which benefits their associative memory. Taken together, these results suggest that depletion of attentional resources during encoding could impair associative memory. Furthermore, older adults’ associative deficit could be effectively alleviated with sufficient environmental support during encoding, such as when resource competition between item and associative encoding is minimized (Study 2) or when being guided to prioritize encoding of associations over items (Study 3).

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