Aging effects in sequential modulations of poorer-strategy effects during execution of memory strategies

In this study, we asked young adults and older adults to encode pairs of words. For each item, they were told which strategy to use, interactive imagery or rote repetition. Data revealed poorer-strategy effects in both young adults and older adults: Participants obtained better performance when executing better strategies (i.e., interactive-imagery strategy to encode pairs of concrete words; rote-repetition strategy on pairs of abstract words) than with poorer strategies (i.e., interactive-imagery strategy on pairs of abstract words; rote-repetition strategy on pairs of concrete words). Crucially, we showed that sequential modulations of poorer-strategy effects (i.e., poorer-strategy effects being larger when previous items were encoded with better relative to poorer strategies), previously demonstrated in arithmetic, generalise to memory strategies. We also found reduced sequential modulations of poorer-strategy effects in older adults relative to young adults. Finally, sequential modulations of poorer-strategy effects correlated with measures of cognitive control processes, suggesting that these processes underlie efficient trial-to-trial modulations during strategy execution. Differences in correlations with cognitive control processes were also found between older adults and young adults. These findings have important implications regarding mechanisms underlying memory strategy execution and age differences in memory performance.     

Sequential difficulty effects during execution of memory strategies in young and older adults

This study aimed at uncovering factors influencing execution of memory strategies and at furthering our understanding of ageing effects on memory performance. To achieve this end, we investigated strategy sequential difficulty (SSD) effects recently demonstrated by Uittenhove and Lemaire in the domain of problem solving. We found that both young and older participants correctly recalled more words using a sentence-construction strategy when this strategy followed an easier strategy (i.e., repetition strategy) or a harder strategy (i.e., mental-image strategy). These SSD effects were of equal magnitude in young and older adults, correlated significantly with Stroop performance in both young and older adults and correlated with N-back performance only in young adults. These findings have important implications for furthering our understanding of memory strategy execution and age-related variations in memory performance, as well for understanding mechanisms underlying SSD effects.     

Prospective memory in young and older adults: The effects of ongoing-task load

ABSTRACT

Prospective memory involves remembering to perform intended actions in the future. Previous work with the multinomial model of event-based prospective memory indicated that adult age-related differences in prospective-memory performance were due to the prospective (not the retrospective) component of the task (Smith & Bayen, 2006 Smith, R. E. and Bayen, U. J. 2006. The source of age differences in event-based prospective memory: A multinomial modeling approach. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 32: 623–635. [Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar], Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 32, 623). However, ongoing-task performance was also lower in older adults in that study. In the current study with young and older adults, the difficulty of the ongoing task was manipulated by varying the number of colors per trial to create easier and harder versions of the ongoing task for each age group. The easier version included 2 colors per trial for older adults and 4 colors for young adults. The harder version included 4 colors for older adults and 6 colors for young adults. By adjusting the ongoing-task difficulty, older adults were able to perform the ongoing task as well or better than the young adults. Analyses with the multinomial model revealed that making the ongoing task easier for older adults (or more difficult for young adults) did not eliminate age-related differences in prospective-memory performance and the underlying prospective component.     

Self-initiated object-location memory in young and older adults

The present study explored self-initiated object-location memory in ecological contexts, as aspect of memory that is largely absent from the research literature. Young and older adults memorized objects-location associations they selected themselves or object-location associations provided to them, and elaborated on the strategy they used when selecting the locations themselves. Retrieval took place 30 min and 1 month after encoding. The results showed an age-related decline in self-initiated and provided object-location memory. Older adults benefited from self-initiation more than young adults when tested after 30 min, while the benefit was equal when tested after 1 month. Furthermore, elaboration enhanced memory only in older adults, and only after 30 min. Both age groups used deep encoding strategies on the majority of the trials, but their percentage was lower in older adults. Overall, the study demonstrated the processes involved in self-initiated object-location memory, which is an essential part of everyday functioning.     

Self-reference enhances relational memory in young and older adults

The present study investigated the influence of self-reference on two kinds of relational memory, internal source memory and associative memory, in young and older adults. Participants encoded object–location word pairs using the strategies of imagination and sentence generation, either with reference to themselves or to a famous other (i.e., George Clooney or Oprah Winfrey). Both young and older adults showed memory benefits in the self-reference conditions compared to other-reference conditions on both tests, and the self-referential effects in older adults were not limited by low memory or executive functioning. These results suggest that self-reference can benefit relational memory in older adults relatively independently of basic memory and executive functions.     

Effects of pointing compared with naming and observing during encoding on item and source memory in young and older adults

Research showed that source memory functioning declines with ageing. Evidence suggests that encoding visual stimuli with manual pointing in addition to visual observation can have a positive effect on spatial memory compared with visual observation only. The present study investigated whether pointing at picture locations during encoding would lead to better spatial source memory than naming (Experiment 1) and visual observation only (Experiment 2) in young and older adults. Experiment 3 investigated whether response modality during the test phase would influence spatial source memory performance. Experiments 1 and 2 supported the hypothesis that pointing during encoding led to better source memory for picture locations than naming or observation only. Young adults outperformed older adults on the source memory but not the item memory task in both Experiments 1 and 2. In Experiments 1 and 2, participants manually responded in the test phase. Experiment 3 showed that if participants had to verbally respond in the test phase, the positive effect of pointing compared with naming during encoding disappeared. The results suggest that pointing at picture locations during encoding can enhance spatial source memory in both young and older adults, but only if the response modality is congruent in the test phase.     

A comparison of visual working memory and episodic memory performance in younger and older adults

Working memory and episodic memory decline with age. However, as they are typically studied separately, it is largely unknown whether age-associated differences are similar. A task design was developed in which visual working memory and episodic memory performances were measured using the same stimuli, with both tasks involving context binding. A 2-back working memory task was followed by a surprise subsequent recognition memory task that assessed incidental encoding of object locations of the 2-back task. The study compared performance of younger (N=30; M_age=23.5, SD_age=2.9, range=20-29) and older adults (N=29; M_age=72.1, SD_age=6.8, range=62-90). Older adults performed worse than younger adults, without an interaction effect. In younger, but not in older adults, performance on the two tasks was related. We conclude that although age differences (Young>Older) are similar in the working memory and incidental associative memory tasks, the relationship between the two memory systems differs as a function of age group.     

Cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses of everyday memory lapses in older adults

Everyday memory lapses experienced by older adults (OAs) were examined using a daily-diary checklist and retrospective questionnaire. In Experiment 1, 138 younger and 138 OAs indicated the frequency of forgetting of 16 memory lapses, and whether each occurred daily during the course of a week. OAs reported more memory lapses on the questionnaire, but not the daily diary. OAs reported more frequently forgetting names and words, while younger adults had more difficulty with appointments and personal dates. Fewer memory lapses on the daily diary were related to better performance on a laboratory-memory measure for OAs. In Experiment 2, 62 OAs returned for a five-year follow-up and endorsed experiencing more memory lapses on the daily diary compared to baseline, specifically forgetting more names and words, but not the retrospective questionnaire. Daily checklist memory lapses again correlated with the laboratory-memory measure. A daily checklist may be a viable way to assess everyday memory lapses.     

Working memory training improvements and gains in non-trained cognitive tasks in young and older adults

Previous studies on working memory training have indicated that transfer to non-trained tasks of other cognitive domains may be possible. The aim of this study is to compare working memory training and transfer effects between younger and older adults (n = 60). A novel approach to adaptive n-back training (12 sessions) was implemented by varying the working memory load and the presentation speed. All participants completed a neuropsychological battery of tests before and after the training. On average, younger training participants achieved difficulty level 12 after training, while older training participants only reached difficulty level 5. In younger participants, transfer to Verbal Fluency and Digit Symbol Substitution test was found. In older participants, we observed a transfer to Digit Span Forward, CERAD Delayed Recall, and Digit Symbol Substitution test. Results suggest that working memory training may be a beneficial intervention for maintaining and improving cognitive functioning in old age.     

Cycling strategies of young and older cyclists

This study concentrates on the cycling strategies of older cyclists (54–62 year olds) in comparison to young cyclists (20–30 year olds). While cycling in a safe laboratory set-up, controlled lateral perturbations are applied to the rear of the bicycle. Three possible strategies to keep balance are analysed for a young and older aged group: steering, lateral trunk movement and outward knee movement. Older subjects appear to rely more on knee movement as a control mechanism than young subjects. Furthermore, the frequency domain analysis revealed that the older adults need more effort to counteract high frequency perturbations. Increased inter-individual variation for the older adults subject group suggests that this group can be seen as a transition group in terms of physical fitness. This explains their increased risk in single-sided bicycle accidents (i.e. accidents involving the cyclist only). Therefore, older cyclists could benefit from improving the stability of cycling at lower speeds.     

Emotional prosody effects on verbal memory in older and younger adults

Prosody, or the way things are said, can modify the meaning of utterances making qualitatively different affective prosodies useful for understanding how auditory affective information is processed and remembered. In this study, we collected behavioral data from 225 younger (M age = 20.8 years, SD = 2.5 years; 119 males) and 225 older adults (M age = 71.6 years, SD = 6.5 years; 119 males) in order to examine age differences in emotional prosody effects on verbal memory. Participants were randomly divided into three subgroups according to different prosody listening conditions (positive, negative, and neutral) and prosody effects on a yes–no recognition memory task were investigated. The results showed how older adults who listened to the story read with a neutral prosody remembered more words than those who listened to the same story with a positive or negative prosody. Younger adults showed no valence effects. Our findings highlighted an age and affective prosody interaction that affects remembering in older adults alone.     

Self-initiated spatial working memory in young and older adults

The age-related decline in working memory (WM) has been studied extensively. Yet, research has focused mainly on one aspect of memory, in which older adults memorised information provided to them, neglecting the frequent everyday behaviour in which memory is self-initiated (SI), meaning that individuals memorise information they selected themselves. The present study used a modified spatial span task in which young and older adults memorised spatial sequences they constructed themselves, or random sequences provided to them. The results revealed that young and older adults carefully planned and constructed structured spatial sequences, by minimising distances between successive locations, and by selecting sequences with fewer path crossings and with more linear shapes. Older adults constructed sequences that were even more structured in some aspects. Young and older adults benefited from self-initiation to the same extent, showing similar age-related declines in SI and provided spatial WM. Overall, the study shows that older adults have access to metacognitive knowledge on the structure of efficient WM representations that benefit accuracy, and shows that older adults can use strategic encoding processes efficiently when encoding is SI. More generally, SI WM explores an important aspect of behaviour, demonstrating how older adults shape their environment to facilitate cognitive functioning.     

Sleep facilitates consolidation of positive emotional memory in healthy older adults

ABSTRACT

Evidence has demonstrated that sleep-related memory consolidation declines in ageing. However, little is known about age-related changes to sleep-related emotional memory consolidation, especially when considering the positivity effect observed in older adults. In the present study, we sought to explore whether there is a positive emotional bias in sleep-related memory consolidation among healthy older adults. Young and older adults were randomly assigned either into a sleep or wake condition. All participants encoded positive, negative, and neutral stimuli and underwent recognition tests immediately (test 1), after a 12-hour sleep/wake interval (test 2), and 3 days after test 2 (test 3). Results showed that age-related differences of sleep beneficial effect were modulated by emotion valence. In particular, sleep selectively enhanced positive memory in older adults, while in young adults sleep beneficial effect was manifested in neutral memory. Moreover, the sleep beneficial effect can be maintained at least 3 days in both young and older adults. These findings suggest that older adults had preserved but positive bias of sleep-related memory consolidation, which could be one of the underlying mechanisms for their generally better emotional well-being in daily life. These findings highlight the dynamic interplay among sleep and emotional memory in older adults.     

Electrophysiological response during source memory decisions in older and younger adults

We recorded event-related potentials (ERPs) as individuals made source monitoring decisions in a paradigm in which the influence of item familiarity and goal relevance could be separately evaluated. Younger and older adults read a list of words and subsequently distinguished these words from foils in a running recognition test in which some foils were repeated after a lag of 6 items, creating familiar lures. Behaviorally, older and younger adults performed equally well in the recognition of study words and the rejection of singly presented foils. However, older adults were more likely to respond to the familiar lures as though they had come from the study list, thus producing the expected group difference in source-monitoring error. For younger adults the ERPs elicited by the targeted study words were maximal at posterior sites and significantly greater than those elicited by either familiar lures or foils. Older adults generated far less differentiated ERP waveforms but with a markedly greater amplitude at frontal sites. We interpret this frontal maximum in the context of poorer source monitoring as suggesting that older adults are more dependent on controlled processes to make discriminations that seem to occur much earlier and more automatically for younger adults.     

Working memory predicts semantic comprehension in dichotic listening in older adults

Older adults have difficulty understanding spoken language in the presence of competing voices. Everyday social situations involving multiple simultaneous talkers may become increasingly challenging in later life due to changes in the ability to focus attention. This study examined whether individual differences in cognitive function predict older adults’ ability to access sentence-level meanings in competing speech using a dichotic priming paradigm. Older listeners showed faster responses to words that matched the meaning of spoken sentences presented to the left or right ear, relative to a neutral baseline. However, older adults were more vulnerable than younger adults to interference from competing speech when the competing signal was presented to the right ear. This pattern of performance was strongly correlated with a non-auditory working memory measure, suggesting that cognitive factors play a key role in semantic comprehension in competing speech in healthy aging.     

Positive feelings facilitate working memory and complex decision making among older adults

The impact of induced mild positive feelings on working memory and complex decision making among older adults (aged 63–85) was examined. Participants completed a computer administered card task in which participants could win money if they chose from “gain” decks and lose money if they chose from “loss” decks. Individuals in the positive-feeling condition chose better than neutral-feeling participants and earned more money overall. Participants in the positive-feeling condition also demonstrated improved working-memory capacity. These effects of positive-feeling induction have implications for affect theory, as well as, potentially, practical implications for people of all ages dealing with complex decisions.     

Self-Reference enhances memory for multi-element events judged likely to happen in young and older adults

ABSTRACT

We investigated whether the strategy of self-reference can benefit memory for multi-element events, a kind of relational memory that is relatively less studied but highly relevant to daily life. Young and older adults imagined different person-object-location events with reference to themselves and two famous others (i.e., George Clooney and Oprah Winfrey), rated the likelihood that each event would happen, and then completed incidental memory tests on different pairs of elements within the event. We found that self-reference enhanced memory for object-location and person-object pairs in both age groups. Such self-reference effects were observed consistently only for events rated as likely to happen. There was also an overall memory advantage for the higher-likelihood events, which did not differ between young and older adults. Further, the self-reference effects were not correlated with memory functioning in either age group. Retrieval of within-event associations showed a significant level of dependency, which did not differ as a function of reference condition or likelihood category. These findings highlight the ways in which self-reference and prior knowledge improve relational memory, and suggest that the advantage of self-reference is not attributable to increased dependence of elements within complex events.     

The relationship between autobiographical memory,cognition, and emotion in older adults: a review

Over the past 30 years, the concept of “autobiographical memory” has been highlighted in numerous behavioral and neuroanatomical studies. Importantly, episodic autobiographical memory, an aspect of autobiographical memory, has been shown to decrease with age but can be improved by training. Autobiographical memory is deeply associated with the default mode network (especially posterior cingulate cortex and medial prefrontal cortex), which is particularly interesting in the context of better understanding the relationship between autobiographical memory, cognition, and emotion in older adults. This article provides an overview of the behavioral and neuroanatomical characteristics of autobiographical memory, as well as its relationship with the default mode network, cognition, emotion, and aging. This article also provides an overall review of autobiographical memory training.     

Word,nonword, and visual paired associate learning in Dutch dyslexic children

Verbal and non-verbal learning were investigated in 21 8-11-year-old dyslexic children and chronological-age controls, and in 21 7-9-year-old reading-age controls. Tasks involved the paired associate learning of words, nonwords, or symbols with pictures. Both learning and retention of associations were examined. Results indicated that dyslexic children had difficulty with verbal learning of both words and nonwords. In addition, analysis of the errors made during nonword learning showed that both phonological errors and general learning errors were distributed similarly for the reading groups. This suggests that nonword learning in dyslexics is slower, but not qualitatively different from normal readers. Furthermore, no differences were found between the dyslexics and age-matched normal readers on non-verbal learning. Long-term retention of the learned visual-verbal associations (both words and nonwords) was not impaired in dyslexic children as compared to normal readers. Finally, phonological awareness ability was assessed. Dyslexics performed worse than age-matched normal readers, but similar to reading-age controls.