Older adults with lower autobiographical memory abilities report less age-related decline in everyday cognitive function
BACKGROUND. Individuals differ in how they remember the past: some recall the gist of events, whereas others re-experience specific details. These trait-level differences reflect life-long autobiographical memory capacities, distinct from laboratory test performance, and there has been little research on how trait mnemonics relate to cognitive aging. Intuitively, one might predict that individuals reporting higher trait-level memory capacity would be resistant to age-related decline in everyday function. On the other hand, those with lower trait-level episodic autobiographical memory capacity may be better equipped with strategies to cope with age-related memory decline. METHODS. We tested these predictions in 959 older adults aged 50–93 using online subjective and objective measures of memory and cognitive function. Our key measures of interest were the Survey of Autobiographical Memory, a measure of autobiographical memory abilities; and the Cognitive Failures Questionnaire, a measure of everyday cognitive function. RESULTS. In keeping with the second, less intuitive prediction, we found that complaints of day-to-day memory slips and errors (normally elevated with age) remained stable or even decreased with age among those reporting lower trait-level episodic autobiographical memory capacity, whereas the expected age-related functional decline in everyday memory was observed among those reporting higher trait-level episodic autobiographical memory capacity. CONCLUSIONS. Congenitally low trait-level episodic autobiographical memory may paradoxically confer a functional advantage in aging due to well-developed non- episodic strategies not present in those with higher abilities. Our findings emphasize the importance of considering individual differences when studying cognitive aging trajectories.