Collaborative Memory Interventions for Age-Related and Alzheimer’s Disease-Related Memory Decline

This chapter discusses the potential for using collaboration as a tool to compensate for age-related and Alzheimer’s disease (AD) related memory decline. Recent research suggest that collaborating with others during recall improves later individual memory, but such post-collaborative recall benefits must be confirmed in AD, and transitional stages of AD such as amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI). Identifying the neural systems that operate during collaboration is also essential for determining the therapeutic value of collaborative recall in these populations. Examining post-collaborative recall benefits, and identifying the neural systems associated with collaborative recall, in healthy aging, AD, and aMCI will be methodologically challenging and necessitate interdisciplinary expertise—but is vital for determining the therapeutic potential of collaborative recall in these populations.

The hows and whys of “we” (and “I”) in groups

Informed by our interdisciplinary research program on collaborative recall, we argue that Baumeister et al. should consider: (1) group success as a balance between differentiation and integration (not differentiation alone); (2) variation in constellations of people and processes within and across groups; and (3) nuanced measurement of what people bring to, do in, and get out of groups.