Different patterns of recollection for matched real-world and laboratory-based episodes in younger and older adults

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicholas Diamond ◽  
Hervé Abdi ◽  
Brian Levine
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Episodic Memory ◽  
Real World ◽  
Memory Performance ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Data Driven ◽  
Subjective Memory ◽  
Distinct Component ◽  
Younger Adults ◽  
Component Processes

To bridge the gap between naturalistic and laboratory assessments of episodic memory, we designed time- and content-matched real-world and virtualized versions of the same tour event. In younger and older adults, we investigated objective and subjective aspects of recollection for event features using a verbal true/false test common to both event conditions. Using a data-driven multivariate analysis blind to the age groups and event conditions, we found that discrimination of altered details explained most of the variance in objective memory performance. There was an advantage for real-world over laboratory encoding on this dimension for both age groups. Similarly, real-world encoding elicited higher scores on a dimension defined by subjective re-experiencing. However, real-world (but not laboratory) encoding decoupled objective and subjective memory in older adults, who reported similar rates of subjective recollection as younger adults despite having objectively poorer discrimination accuracy. This interaction suggests that episodic memory for real-world versus laboratory events recruit distinct component processes.

scholarly journals Cognitive aging and verbal labeling in continuous visual memory

2020 ◽  
Vol 48 (7) ◽  
pp. 1196-1213
Author(s):  
Alicia Forsberg ◽  
Wendy Johnson ◽  
Robert H. Logie
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Cognitive Aging ◽  
Visual Memory ◽  
Memory Performance ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Long Term Memory ◽  
Younger Adults ◽  
Healthy Older Adults ◽  
Age Related

Abstract The decline of working memory (WM) is a common feature of general cognitive decline, and visual and verbal WM capacity appear to decline at different rates with age. Visual material may be remembered via verbal codes or visual traces, or both. Souza and Skóra, Cognition, 166, 277–297 (2017) found that labeling boosted memory in younger adults by activating categorical visual long-term memory (LTM) knowledge. Here, we replicated this and tested whether it held in healthy older adults. We compared performance in silence, under instructed overt labeling (participants were asked to say color names out loud), and articulatory suppression (repeating irrelevant syllables to prevent labeling) in the delayed estimation paradigm. Overt labeling improved memory performance in both age groups. However, comparing the effect of overt labeling and suppression on the number of coarse, categorical representations in the two age groups suggested that older adults used verbal labels subvocally more than younger adults, when performing the task in silence. Older adults also appeared to benefit from labels differently than younger adults. In younger adults labeling appeared to improve visual, continuous memory, suggesting that labels activated visual LTM representations. However, for older adults, labels did not appear to enhance visual, continuous representations, but instead boosted memory via additional verbal (categorical) memory traces. These results challenged the assumption that visual memory paradigms measure the same cognitive ability in younger and older adults, and highlighted the importance of controlling differences in age-related strategic preferences in visual memory tasks.

scholarly journals I know your face but can’t remember your name: Age-related differences in the FNAME-12NL

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
S Enriquez-Geppert ◽  
J F Flores-Vázquez ◽  
M Lietz ◽  
M Garcia-Pimenta ◽  
P Andrés
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Associative Memory ◽  
Recognition Performance ◽  
Memory Performance ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Systematic Investigation ◽  
Age Effects ◽  
Younger Adults ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Effects Of Aging

Abstract Objective The Face-Name Associative Memory test (FNAME) has recently received attention as a test for early diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease. So far, however, there has been no systematic investigation of the effects of aging. Here, we aimed to assess the extent to which the FNAME performance is modulated by normal ageing. Method In a first step, we adapted the FNAME material to the Dutch population. In a second step, younger (n = 29) and older adults (n = 29) were compared on recall and recognition performance. Results Significant age effects on name recall were observed after the first exposure of new face-name pairs: younger adults remembered eight, whereas older adults remembered a mean of four out of twelve names. Although both age groups increased the number of recalled names with repeated face-name exposure, older adults did not catch up with the performance of the younger adults, and the age-effects remained stable. Despite of that, both age groups maintained their performance after a 30-min delay. Considering recognition, no age differences were demonstrated, and both age groups succeeded in the recognition of previously shown faces and names when presented along with distractors. Conclusions This study presents for the first time the results of different age groups regarding cross-modal associative memory performance on the FNAME. The recall age effects support the hypothesis of age-related differences in associative memory. To use the FNAME as an early cognitive biomarker, further subscales are suggested to increase sensitivity and specificity in the clinical context.

scholarly journals SUBJECTIVE MEMORY COMPLAINTS AND COGNITIVE PERFORMANCE: THE MODERATING ROLE OF DEPRESSIVE SYMPTOMS

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S654-S654
Author(s):  
Elizabeth A Gallagher
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Depressive Symptoms ◽  
Episodic Memory ◽  
Cognitive Performance ◽  
Memory Performance ◽  
Health Concern ◽  
Subjective Memory Complaints ◽  
Subjective Memory ◽  
Memory Complaints ◽  
The Relationship

Abstract Cognitive health is a rising public health concern in the U.S. Currently, approximately 5.7 million older adults suffer from Alzheimer’s disease (AD), and by the year 2050 this number is expected to increase to 14 million. Subjective memory complaints (SMC) are shown to be an early indicator of cognitive decline, and accordingly included as a clinical criterion for diagnoses of MCI, an indicator of pre-dementia states, and a research criterion for AD diagnoses. Among older adults, depressive symptoms hinder the accuracy of memory self-ratings. However, there has yet to be consensus regarding the nature of how depressive symptoms may condition the relationship between SMC and cognitive performance. The aims of the present study are to both investigate whether SMC is related to episodic memory and to determine whether depressive symptoms act as a moderator for the relationship between SMC and episodic memory among older adults. This research used nationally representative sample of 8,123 older adults aged 65 and older who completed the Leave Behind Questionnaire in the 2012 and 2014 waves of the Health and Retirement Study. Linear regression was performed and results showed that there was a significant main effect of SMC on episodic memory performance, in that older adults with increased SMC have worse episodic memory. There was also a significant moderating effect of depressive symptoms, in that depressive symptoms cause older adults to underestimate their memory abilities. In order to use SMC as a tool for early detection efforts it is critical to understand these complex relationships.

Interrelations between Subjective Health and Episodic Memory Change in Swedish and Canadian Samples of Older Adults

2003 ◽  
Vol 57 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-35 ◽  
Author(s):  
Å Wahlin ◽  
Scott B. Maitland ◽  
Lars Bäckman ◽  
Roger A. Dixon
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Episodic Memory ◽  
Memory Performance ◽  
Subjective Health ◽  
Longitudinal Change ◽  
Subjective Memory ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Memory Change ◽  
Two Samples ◽  
Kungsholmen Project

Recent research has documented associations between subjective health ratings and objective indicators of disease and death. Less is known about relations between subjective health ratings and level of cognitive performance in older adults. In this study, we explored whether subjective health ratings are related to episodic memory performance, both concurrently and across a three-year longitudinal interval. Persons aged 75–84 years, and participating in the Swedish Kungsholmen Project ( n = 105) or the Canadian Victoria Longitudinal Study ( n = 71), were examined. Results showed that in both samples, while the cross-sectional relationship was non-significant, longitudinal change in perceptions of subjective health were related to change in episodic memory performance. Next, the two samples were combined in additional analyses. Here, results further revealed that the associations between longitudinal change in subjective health and memory performance generalized across samples independently of demographic, changing physical health status, and subjective memory decline differences. Thus, the present findings suggest that subjective health may be added to the growing number of individual-difference variables that are predictive of episodic memory change in very old age.

scholarly journals Physical Activity Is Positively Associated with Episodic Memory in Aging

2015 ◽  
Vol 21 (10) ◽  
pp. 780-790 ◽  
Author(s):  
Scott M. Hayes ◽  
Michael L. Alosco ◽  
Jasmeet P. Hayes ◽  
Margaret Cadden ◽  
Kristina M. Peterson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Physical Activity ◽  
Older Adults ◽  
Executive Function ◽  
Episodic Memory ◽  
Memory Performance ◽  
Neuropsychological Testing ◽  
Memory Task ◽  
Individual Variability ◽  
Relational Memory ◽  
Younger Adults

AbstractAging is associated with performance reductions in executive function and episodic memory, although there is substantial individual variability in cognition among older adults. One factor that may be positively associated with cognition in aging is physical activity. To date, few studies have objectively assessed physical activity in young and older adults, and examined whether physical activity is differentially associated with cognition in aging. Young (n=29, age 18–31 years) and older adults (n=31, ages 55–82 years) completed standardized neuropsychological testing to assess executive function and episodic memory capacities. An experimental face-name relational memory task was administered to augment assessment of episodic memory. Physical activity (total step count and step rate) was objectively assessed using an accelerometer, and hierarchical regressions were used to evaluate relationships between cognition and physical activity. Older adults performed more poorly on tasks of executive function and episodic memory. Physical activity was positively associated with a composite measure of visual episodic memory and face-name memory accuracy in older adults. Physical activity associations with cognition were independent of sedentary behavior, which was negatively correlated with memory performance. Physical activity was not associated with cognitive performance in younger adults. Physical activity is positively associated with episodic memory performance in aging. The relationship appears to be strongest for face-name relational memory and visual episodic memory, likely attributable to the fact that these tasks make strong demands on the hippocampus. The results suggest that physical activity relates to cognition in older, but not younger adults. (JINS, 2015, 21, 780–790)

scholarly journals A Framework for Levels of Specificity in Episodic Memory: Converging Insights from Response Accuracy and Subjective Confidence Ratings in Young and Older Adults

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nathaniel R. Greene ◽  
Moshe Naveh-Benjamin
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Episodic Memory ◽  
Memory Performance ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Empirical Support ◽  
Specific Information ◽  
Specific Level ◽  
Adult Participants ◽  
Old Adult ◽  
Subjective Confidence

We provide support for the theoretical framework and empirical findings that associations in episodic memory can be retrieved from multiple levels of specificity and that adult aging is associated with declines in the ability to retrieve associations at specific levels of representation (Greene & Naveh-Benjamin, 2020). Young and old adult participants in two experiments – one in-person and one online – studied face-scene pairs and then completed an Intact/Recombined associative recognition test, which featured test pairs that were the same as original pairs, similar to those pairs at a highly specific level, similar at a broader level, or completely dissimilar. Participants also rated their confidence in their decisions. Results of measures of both memory accuracy and subjective confidence reports were similar across both experiments and age groups and showed that overall memory performance scaled with the amount of specificity needed to be retrieved, and that older adults were especially impaired in distinguishing highly similar foils. Moreover, confidence-accuracy analysis showed that participants were best able to calibrate their confidence when less specific information was needed in order to perform well, but these calibrations worsened at higher levels of specific retrieval, especially among older adults. The results indicate that episodic memory can be accessed on a continuum of specificity, providing empirical support for a levels of specificity framework, as part of a specificity principle of memory (e.g., Surprenant and Neath, 2009), and in line with the effort to identify universal invariants of natural phenomena, which are somewhat scarce in psychology.

Effectiveness of Self-Generated Cues in Younger and Older Adults: The Role of Retention Interval

1988 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 241-248 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lars Bäckman ◽  
Timo Mäntylä
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Retention Interval ◽  
Elderly People ◽  
Recall Test ◽  
Memory Performance ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Younger Adults ◽  
Immediate Recall ◽  
High Level

Younger and older participants generated one or three properties to a set of forty nouns. Immediately after, one week after, or three weeks after this generation phase, the participants received an incidental recall test, in which they were cued with their self-generated properties, and requested to recall the nouns. Although the younger adults recalled more nouns than the older participants in all conditions, both age groups exhibited an extremely high level of immediate recall. In addition, younger and older adults did not differ with respect to the forgetting rate, and both age groups recalled more nouns when three, as compared to one, properties were provided as cues. It is suggested that cue effectiveness is optimized both for younger and older adults when the cues describing the information encoded are compatible and distinctive. Finally, it is emphasized that the individual's idiosyncratic knowledge may serve an important function in attempts at optimizing memory performance of elderly people.

scholarly journals Evidence for Age-Equivalent and Task-Dissociative Metacognition in the Memory Domain

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexandria C. Zakrzewski ◽  
Edie C. Sanders ◽  
Jane M. Berry
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Memory Performance ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Item Recognition ◽  
Younger Adults ◽  
Decision Confidence ◽  
Post Test ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Metacognitive Ability ◽  
Confidence Ratings

Research suggests that metacognitive monitoring ability does not decline with age. For example, judgments-of-learning (JOL) accuracy is roughly equivalent between younger and older adults. But few studies have asked whether younger and older adults’ metacognitive ability varies across different types of memory processes (e.g., for items vs. pairs). The current study tested the relationship between memory and post-decision confidence ratings at the trial level on item (individual words) and associative (word pairs) memory recognition tests. As predicted, younger and older adults had similar metacognitive efficiency, when using meta-d’/d’, a measure derived from Signal Detection Theory, despite a significant age effect favoring younger adults on memory performance. This result is consistent with previous work showing age-equivalent metacognitive efficiency in the memory domain. We also found that metacognitive efficiency was higher for associative memory than for item memory across age groups, even though associative and item recognition memory (d’) were statistically equivalent. Higher accuracy on post-test decision confidence ratings for associative recognition relative to item recognition on resolution accuracy itself (meta-d’) and when corrected for performance differences (meta-d’/d’) are novel findings. Implications for associative metacognition are discussed.

scholarly journals Semantic Relatedness Corrects the Age-Related Binding Deficit in Working Memory and Episodic Memory

2019 ◽  
Vol 75 (9) ◽  
pp. 1841-1849 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vanessa M Loaiza ◽  
Sabina Srokova
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Working Memory ◽  
Episodic Memory ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Semantic Relatedness ◽  
Item Memory ◽  
Younger Adults ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Long Term Retention

Abstract Objectives It is well known that age differentially impacts aspects of long-term episodic memory (EM): Whereas a binding deficit indicates that older adults are less capable than younger adults to encode or retrieve associations between information (e.g., the pairing between two memoranda, such as lock – race), item memory is relatively intact (e.g., recognizing lock without its original pairing). Method We tested whether this deficit could be corrected by facilitating establishment of the bindings in working memory (WM) through adapting the semantic relatedness of studied pairs according to participants’ ongoing performance (Experiments 1 and 2). We also examined whether this was evident for the long-term retention of pairs that were not tested in WM (Experiment 2). Results The results revealed matched binding and item memory in WM and EM between age groups. Most importantly, older adults required increased semantic strength between word pairs to achieve similar performance to that of younger adults, regardless of whether pairs were immediately tested during the WM task. Discussion These findings indicate that relying on their superior semantic memory can correct the commonly exhibited profound deficit in binding memory in older age.

Of Mice and Pen: Effects of Input Device on Different Age Groups Performing Goal-Oriented Tasks

2007 ◽  
Vol 51 (1) ◽  
pp. 45-49 ◽  
Author(s):  
James F. Kravitz
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Real World ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Task Demands ◽  
Input Device ◽  
Younger Adults ◽  
Input Devices ◽  
Tablet Pcs ◽  
Research Hypothesis ◽  
Age Related

Convertible tablet PCs can use a pen or a mouse for input. The pen is better suited than the mouse for some tasks because of its interaction properties, and research has shown it may ameliorate age-related decrements in performance. This study compared the pen and mouse on a series of realistic tasks for older (55–69) and younger (18–30) adults. Precision tasks were better served by the mouse, while ballistic tasks with strong analogs to real-world actions were served equally well by the pen or the mouse. Older adults were slower than younger adults on both devices, but contrary to the research hypothesis, no benefits were observed specifically for older adults with the pen. This study reinforces findings regarding the importance of task demands when selecting input devices. Younger adults seemed more willing than older adults to embrace the pen.

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