scholarly journals Searching for the past: Exploring the dynamics of direct and generative autobiographical memory reconstruction among young and cognitively normal older adults

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aubrey A. Wank ◽  
Jessica R. Andrews-Hanna ◽  
Matthew D. Grilli
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Autobiographical Memory ◽  
Cognitively Normal ◽  
The Past

scholarly journals Searching for the Past: Exploring the Dynamics of Direct and Generative Autobiographical Memory Reconstruction Among Young and Cognitively Normal Older Adults

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aubrey Anne Ladd Wank ◽  
Jessica R. Andrews-Hanna ◽  
Matthew D. Grilli
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Young Adults ◽  
Autobiographical Memory ◽  
Cognitive Aging ◽  
Cognitive Mechanisms ◽  
Specific Detail ◽  
Cognitively Normal ◽  
The Past ◽  
Overgeneral Autobiographical Memory ◽  
Age Related

Episodic autobiographical memories (EAMs) can come to mind through two retrieval routes, one direct (i.e., an EAM is retrieved almost instantaneously) and the other generative (i.e., by using autobiographical/general knowledge to cue an EAM). It is well established that normal cognitive aging is associated with a reduction in the retrieval of EAMs, but the contributions of direct or generative reconstruction to the age-related shift toward general memories remain unknown. Prior studies also have not clarified whether similar cognitive mechanisms facilitate the ability to successfully reconstruct EAMs and elaborate them in event-specific detail. To address these gaps in knowledge, young and older participants were asked to reconstruct EAMs using a “think-aloud” paradigm and then describe in detail a subset of retrieved memories. An adapted scoring procedure was implemented to categorize memories accessed during reconstruction, and the Autobiographical Interview (AI) scoring procedure was utilized for elaboration scoring. Results indicated that in comparison to young adults, older adults not only engaged in direct retrieval less often than young adults, but they also more often ended generative retrieval at general events instead of EAMs. The ability to elaborate EAMs with internal details was positively associated with the ability to use generative retrieval to reconstruct EAMs in both young and older adults, but there was no relationship between internal detail elaboration and direct retrieval in either age group. Taken together, these results indicate age-related differences in direct and generative retrieval contribute to overgeneral autobiographical memory and they support a connection between generative retrieval and elaboration.

scholarly journals Not all measures of naturalistic memory are sensitive to ageing

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ali Mair ◽  
marie poirier ◽  
Martin A. Conway
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Autobiographical Memory ◽  
Ecological Validity ◽  
Test Word ◽  
Word List ◽  
Age Effects ◽  
The Other ◽  
Face Validity ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Face

Published age effects in naturalistic memory are inconsistent. This study examined whether a set of typical naturalistic memory measures produced equivalent results in a single participant sample. Four naturalistic memory tests (everyday memory, autobiographical memory from the past year, autobiographical memory from age 11-17, word-cued autobiographical memory) and one laboratory test (word-list recall) were administered to 20 young and 20 older adults. There was significant variance in the tests’ sensitivity to age: word-cued autobiographical memory produced the largest deficit in older adults, similar in magnitude to word-list recall. In contrast, older adults performed comparatively well on the other measures, which were more ecologically valid. Retention interval, executive function, and event characteristics influenced performance, but none of these factors could account for the pattern of age effects. Further research is needed to understand the face validity of these naturalistic memory tasks, and future investigations should be mindful of their ecological validity.

scholarly journals Reminiscence groupwork and autobiographical memory as part of meaningful activities

Groupwork ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 77-87
Author(s):  
Andrew P. Allen ◽  
Mary Lee Tully ◽  
Desmond O’Neill ◽  
Richard A.P. Roche
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Older Adults ◽  
Autobiographical Memory ◽  
Memory Impairment ◽  
Memory Recall ◽  
Autobiographical Memories ◽  
Group Activities ◽  
The Past ◽  
With Memory

The current paper describes a reminiscence group activity session held as part of meaningful activities engagement for older adults. Topics of reminiscence included both autobiographical memories and memories of broader historical events from the past. Participants included those with memory impairment and those without, and participants with healthy memory were helpful in prompting memories in participants with memory impairment. Semantic and episodic autobiographical memory were assessed at baseline and following the end of both group activities, using the Episodic Autobiographical Memory Interview (EAMI) and quality of life was assessed using the Quality of Life AD-scale (QOL-AD). The reminiscence intervention did not significantly affect autobiographical memory recall or quality of life. However, oral reminiscence was reported to have increased outside of the reminiscence sessions.

scholarly journals Age effects in autobiographical memory depend on the measure

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (10) ◽  
pp. e0259279
Author(s):  
Ali Mair ◽  
Marie Poirier ◽  
Martin A. Conway
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Retention Interval ◽  
Autobiographical Memory ◽  
Recent Work ◽  
Word List ◽  
Age Effects ◽  
The Other ◽  
Event Type ◽  
Memory Tests ◽  
The Past

Studies examining age effects in autobiographical memory have produced inconsistent results. This study examined whether a set of typical autobiographical memory measures produced equivalent results in a single participant sample. Five memory tests (everyday memory, autobiographical memory from the past year, autobiographical memory from age 11–17, word-cued autobiographical memory, and word-list recall) were administered in a single sample of young and older adults. There was significant variance in the tests’ sensitivity to age: word-cued autobiographical memory produced the largest deficit in older adults, similar in magnitude to word-list recall. In contrast, older adults performed comparatively well on the other measures. The pattern of findings was broadly consistent with the results of previous investigations, suggesting that (1) the results of the different AM tasks are reliable, and (2) variable age effects in the autobiographical memory literature are at least partly due to the use of different tasks, which cannot be considered interchangeable measures of autobiographical memory ability. The results are also consistent with recent work dissociating measures of specificity and detail in autobiographical memory, and suggest that specificity is particularly sensitive to ageing. In contrast, detail is less sensitive to ageing, but is influenced by retention interval and event type. The extent to which retention interval and event type interact with age remains unclear; further research using specially designed autobiographical memory tasks could resolve this issue.

Poor Acceptance of the Past is Related to Depressive Symptoms in Older Adults

GeroPsych ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 33 (4) ◽  
pp. 246-251
Author(s):  
Gozde Cetinkol ◽  
Gulbahar Bastug ◽  
E. Tugba Ozel Kizil
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Regression Analysis ◽  
Depressive Symptoms ◽  
Death Anxiety ◽  
Geriatric Depression ◽  
Ego Integrity ◽  
The Past ◽  
Depressed Group ◽  
Total Death ◽  
The Relationship

Abstract. Depression in older adults can be explained by Erikson’s theory on the conflict of ego integrity versus hopelessness. The study investigated the relationship between past acceptance, hopelessness, death anxiety, and depressive symptoms in 100 older (≥50 years) adults. The total Beck Hopelessness (BHS), Geriatric Depression (GDS), and Accepting the Past (ACPAST) subscale scores of the depressed group were higher, while the total Death Anxiety (DAS) and Reminiscing the Past (REM) subscale scores of both groups were similar. A regression analysis revealed that the BHS, DAS, and ACPAST predicted the GDS. Past acceptance seems to be important for ego integrity in older adults.

Interindividual Differences in Cognitive Functioning Are Associated with Autobiographical Memory Retrieval Specificity in Older Adults

GeroPsych ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 15-29 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Peters ◽  
Signy Sheldon
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Cognitive Functioning ◽  
Autobiographical Memory ◽  
Memory Retrieval ◽  
Cognitive Status ◽  
Specific Information ◽  
Generation Task ◽  
Interindividual Differences ◽  
Retrieval Cues ◽  
Contextual Support

Abstract. We examined whether interindividual differences in cognitive functioning among older adults are related to episodic memory engagement during autobiographical memory retrieval. Older adults ( n = 49, 24 males; mean age = 69.93; mean education = 15.45) with different levels of cognitive functioning, estimated using the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), retrieved multiple memories (generation task) and the details of a single memory (elaboration task) to cues representing thematic or event-specific autobiographical knowledge. We found that the MoCA score positively predicted the proportion of specific memories for generation and episodic details for elaboration, but only to cues that represented event-specific information. The results demonstrate that individuals with healthy, but not unhealthy, cognitive status can leverage contextual support from retrieval cues to improve autobiographical specificity.

Parent–Child Construction of Personal Memories in Reminiscing Conversations: Implications for the Development and Treatment of Childhood Psychopathology

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karen Salmon
Keyword(s):  
Autobiographical Memory ◽  
Conduct Problems ◽  
Childhood Psychopathology ◽  
Relevant Research ◽  
The Past ◽  
Parents And Children ◽  
Emotion Competence ◽  
Critical Skills ◽  
Clinical Populations ◽  
Parent Child

Strong theory and research implicates parent–child conversations about the past in the child’s development of critical skills, including autobiographical memory and understanding of emotion and minds. Yet very little research has focused on associations between reminiscing and the development of childhood psychopathology. This chapter considers what is known about reminiscing between parents and children where there is anxiety or conduct problems. These findings provide clues as to how children come to manifest difficulties in autobiographical memory and emotion competence. Thereafter, the text reviews studies that have attempted to alter the style and content of parent–child reminiscing in clinical populations. The full implications of parent–child reminiscing, as a rich context for children’s development, have yet to be realized in clinically relevant research.

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