Heterogeneity in memory training improvement among older adults: A latent class analysis

This study investigated the extent to which older adults' associative memory functioning can be modified through instruction and practice based on individuals' memory status. Here 42 younger adults and 42 older adults performed four tasks that measured strategic and binding aspects of memory. With latent class analysis, two classes of older adults were identified. The first class showed higher memory functioning similar to younger adults, while the second class was characterised by lower memory functioning. A subsequent analysis examined whether the high- and low-performing older adults differ in patterns of gain from receiving instruction and practice on a mnemonic strategy. The results revealed that high-performing older adults, similar to younger adults, showed higher associative memory performance under explicit intentional encoding instruction and after extensive practice of the strategy. In contrast, low-performing older adults benefited more from directed instruction of the strategy. The results are discussed in relation to individual differences in the functional status of mechanisms underlying memory functioning, and how these differences may lead to compensation or magnification of training gain. The present findings highlight the importance of considering differential memory processes to develop specific training paradigms that target the processes that show the most prominent decline.     

Working memory training and transfer in older adults

There has been a great deal of interest, both privately and commercially, in using working memory training exercises to improve general cognitive function. However, many of the laboratory findings for older adults, a group in which this training is of utmost interest, are discouraging due to the lack of transfer to other tasks and skills. Importantly, improvements in everyday functioning remain largely unexamined in relation to WM training. We trained working memory in older adults using a task that encourages transfer in young adults (Chein & Morrison, 2010). We tested transfer to measures of working memory (e.g., Reading Span), everyday cognitive functioning [the Test of Everyday Attention (TEA) and the California Verbal Learning Test (CVLT)], and other tasks of interest. Relative to controls, trained participants showed transfer improvements in Reading Span and the number of repetitions on the CVLT. Training group participants were also significantly more likely to self-report improvements in everyday attention. Our findings support the use of ecological tasks as a measure of transfer in an older adult population.     

Supplemental group discussions in memory training for older adults

Memory training was compared in adults aged 60-80. Groups 1 and 2 studied a self-instructional memory training manual; Group 2 also attended supplementary group discussions of typical problems of later life, related coping methods, and the techniques in the self-instructional manuals. Group 3 was a wait-list control group. Memory performance on 2 word lists significantly improved in the supplemental discussion group but not in the group that only studied the self-instructional manual. Enhanced performances were maintained at a 1-month follow-up. Bibliotherapy alone may be inferior to treatment involving a group component, although the mechanisms of such enhancement remain unexplored with respect to memory training. Neither treated group improved their digit span or recall of names and a brief prose passage; teaching older adults the strategies of chunking and use of imagery may not be beneficial.     

Working memory training in older adults: evidence of transfer and maintenance effects

Few studies have examined working memory (WM) training-related gains and their transfer and maintenance effects in older adults. This present research investigates the efficacy of a verbal WM training program in adults aged 65-75 years, considering specific training gains on a verbal WM (criterion) task as well as transfer effects on measures of visuospatial WM, short-term memory, inhibition, processing speed, and fluid intelligence. Maintenance of training benefits was evaluated at 8-month follow-up. Trained older adults showed higher performance than did controls on the criterion task and maintained this benefit after 8 months. Substantial general transfer effects were found for the trained group, but not for the control one. Transfer maintenance gains were found at follow-up, but only for fluid intelligence and processing speed tasks. The results are discussed in terms of cognitive plasticity in older adults.     

Effects of discrimination training on reading improvement among adults

This study examined the effects of discrimination training on improving reading skills for young adults. 90 college students (M age = 26.2 yr.), who were identified as low achievers with below average reading skills, were randomly assigned to one of three training conditions: the General Discrimination Group, the Reading Discrimination Group, and the Study Skills Group. Following 10 days of training, the subjects were tested on a standard reading achievement test, a problem-solving test, and a measure of cognitive style. Minimal differences between the pre- and posttraining scores for all three training conditions were noted. These findings contrast with developmental research that has indicated the importance of discrimination ability and suggest distinctive problems of adults with poor reading skills.     

Domain dimensionality and temporality of outcome expectancy for physical activity among middle-aged and older Chinese adults: A latent profile analysis

ObjectivesUsing a person-centered approach, this study aimed to identify the profiles of outcome expectancy for physical activity among middle-aged and older Chinese adults. Profiles were defined by two aspects of outcome expectancy including domain dimensionality and temporality, given the emphasis on social connectedness and the shortened future-time perception in this population.DesignCross-sectional survey design.MethodsParticipants included 300 Chinese adults aged 50 years or above, recruited in Hong Kong. Participants were asked to indicate their outcome expectancy for physical activity in physical, social and self-evaluative domains, rate the immediacy of each outcome expectancy item, and then report their physical activity for the past week. A latent class analysis was used to identify the number of profiles and profile characteristics, and to examine the predictors of the profile memberships and effects of the memberships on physical activity.ResultsResults suggested four profiles, including low, moderate, delayed-high and immediate-high expectancy classes. Temporality, rather than domain dimensionality, was essential in defining the profiles. Interdependent self-construal and future-time perception were predictive of the profile memberships. People with immediate-high expectancy were more physically active than those in other expectancy classes.ConclusionsThis study provided supporting evidence for the temporal self-regulation theory, and demonstrated the importance of immediate outcomes. More research attention in physical activity promotion should be given to the temporal dimension, especially for older adults who perceive future time as more limited. New directions to enhance outcome expectancies, especially for this population, also need further investigation.     

Prospective memory training in older adults and its relevance for successful aging

In research on cognitive plasticity, two training approaches have been established: (1) training of strategies to improve performance in a given task (e.g., encoding strategies to improve episodic memory performance) and (2) training of basic cognitive processes (e.g., working memory, inhibition) that underlie a range of more complex cognitive tasks (e.g., planning) to improve both the training target and the complex transfer tasks. Strategy training aims to compensate or circumvent limitations in underlying processes, while process training attempts to augment or to restore these processes. Although research on both approaches has produced some promising findings, results are still heterogeneous and the impact of most training regimes for everyday life is unknown. We, therefore, discuss recent proposals of training regimes aiming to improve prospective memory (i.e., forming and realizing delayed intentions) as this type of complex cognition is highly relevant for independent living. Furthermore, prospective memory is associated with working memory and executive functions and age-related decline is widely reported. We review initial evidence suggesting that both training regimes (i.e., strategy and/or process training) can successfully be applied to improve prospective memory. Conceptual and methodological implications of the findings for research on age-related prospective memory and for training research in general are discussed.     

Trial-and-error learning improves source memory among young and older adults

Trial-and-error learning, relative to errorless learning, has been shown to impair memory among older adults, despite evidence from young adults that errors may afford memorial benefits through richer encoding. However, previous studies on the effects of errorless versus trial-and-error learning in older adults has required production of errors based on perceptual cues. We hypothesized that producing errors conceptually associated with targets would boost memory for the encoding context in which information was studied, especially for older adults who do not spontaneously elaborate on targets at encoding. We report two studies examining the impact of generating errors during learning on source memory among young and older adults, with a process dissociation procedure employed in Study 1, and source memory assessed directly in Study 2. In both studies, participants were shown semantic category cues and generated an exemplar either with or without errors. In Study 1, for both age groups trial-and-error learning was associated with lower familiarity-based memory and higher recollection-based memory relative to errorless learning, and the latter effect was more marked for older than younger adults. Similarly, in Study 2, trial-and-error learning was associated with better source memory relative to errorless learning, particularly for the older adults. We argue that trial-and-error learning can enhance source memory and confer memorial benefits when making such errors facilitates semantic elaboration, especially for older adults who do not spontaneously engage in strategic encoding.     

Effects of three training types on vitality among older adults: A self-determination theory perspective

ObjectivesTo investigate effects of endurance, functional and strength training on subjective vitality in older adults. Using the self-determination theory (SDT) framework we tested the moderating effects of autonomy support and mediating effects of need satisfaction on participants’ changes in vitality.DesignParallel-groups randomized controlled trial.Methods138 older adults (M = 74.2 years, SD = 4.5) were randomized to a training group or wait-list control, with assessments at baseline, at 7 weeks (short term), and 16 weeks (long term). Mixed models provided estimates of treatment effects, with covariates for moderating effects of autonomy support and mediating effects of need satisfaction (autonomy, competence, relatedness). Inferences were based on uncertainty in standardized effect-sizes (ES) in relation to a smallest important ES of 0.20.ResultsAt short term, effects on vitality were moderate for endurance training (ES = .70, ±.44), and small for functional (ES = .54, ±.36) and strength training (ES = .21, ±.47). At long term only endurance training had a clear effect on vitality (ES = .27, ±.38). Perceived autonomy support moderated the effect of endurance training at short term (ES = .66, ±.66), and functional training at long term (ES = .23, ±.40). Change in competence mediated the effect of functional and strength training at long term, while in endurance training high perceptions of autonomy support moderated the mediation effect of competence on vitality.ConclusionsEndurance training is recommended for increasing subjective vitality in older adults. Moderating effects of autonomy support and mediating effects of need satisfaction are partially consistent with self-determination theory.     

Betting on memory leads to metacognitive improvement by younger and older adults

The present study examined how younger and older adults choose to selectively remember important information. Participants studied words paired with point values, and "bet" on whether they could later recall each word. If they bet on and recalled the word, they received the points, but if they failed to recall it, they lost those points. Participants (especially older adults) initially bet on more words than they later recalled, but greatly improved with task experience. The incorporation of rewards and penalties associated with metacognitive predictions, and multiple study-test trials, revealed that both younger and older adults can learn to maximize performance.     

A bilingual advantage for episodic memory in older adults

The ability to remember events—referred to as episodic memory—is typically subject to decline in older adulthood. Episodic memory decline has been attributed in part to less successful executive functioning, which may hinder an older adult's ability to implement controlled encoding and retrieval processes. Since bilingual older adults often show more successful executive functioning than monolinguals, they may be better able to maintain episodic memory. To examine this hypothesis, we compared bilingual and monolingual older adults on a picture scene recall task (assessing episodic memory) and a Simon task (assessing executive functioning). Bilinguals exhibited better episodic memory than their monolingual peers, recalling significantly more items overall. Within the bilingual group, earlier second language acquisition and more years speaking two languages were associated with better recall. Bilinguals also demonstrated higher executive functioning, and there was evidence that level of executive functioning was related to memory performance. Results indicate that extensive practice controlling two languages may benefit episodic memory in older adults.     

Process and strategy in memory for speech among younger and older adults

Younger and older adults listened to and immediately recalled short passages of speech that varied in the rate of presentation and in the degree of linguistic and prosodic curing. Although older adults showed a differential decrease in recall performance as a function of increasing speech rate, age differences in recall were reduced by the presence of linguistic and prosodic cues. Under conditions of optimum linguistic redundancy, older adults were also found to add more words and to make more meaning-producing reconstructions in recall. Differences in overall performance are accounted for in terms of age-related changes in working memory processing and strategy utilization.     

Measures of fluency as predictors of incidental memory among older adults

This study investigated fluency performance as a mediator of age-related declines in incidental memory performance as both are thought to rely on strategic retrieval processes. A large sample of community dwelling older adults completed a battery of tests assessing fluency, verbal knowledge, speed of information processing, and incidental recall. Fluency measures included initial and excluded letter fluency and the Uses for Objects Test, and they were assumed to reflect increasing reliance on strategic retrieval search. Speed emerged as the best mediator of age-related variance in incidental recall, and Uses for Objects Test performance added to the variance after controlling for verbal knowledge and speed. The results suggest that age-related decline in incidental recall is largely due to speed and the strategic search of memory.     

Brain training in older adults: evidence of transfer to memory span performance and pseudo-Matthew effects

In this study the effects of 'brain training' using the Nintendo DS Brain Training program were examined in two groups of older adults; the cognitive performance of an experimental group (n = 21) who were asked to use the Nintendo DS regularly over a 6-week period was compared with the control group (n = 20). Groups were matched on age (mean age = 74 years), education, computer experience, daily activities (time spent reading or watching television), and initial scores of Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale. Analyses revealed that improvements were primarily in the Digit Span Test, specifically Digits Backwards. Although the Brain Training package appeared to have some efficacy, other factors such as perceived quality of life and perceived cognitive functioning were at least equally important in determining training outcomes. The implications of these findings for cognitive training are discussed.     

Alexithymia and psychosocial problems among Italian preadolescents. A latent class analysis approach

The study, conducted on Italian preadolscents aged 11 to 13 belonging to the general population, aims to investigate the relationship between the emotional functioning, namely, alexithymia, and the risk of developing behavioral and emotional problems measured using the Strength and Difficulty Questionnaire. The latent class analysis approach allowed to identify two latent variables, accounting for the internalizing (emotional symptoms and difficulties in emotional awareness) and for the externalizing problems (conduct problems and hyperactivity, problematic relationships with peers, poor prosocial behaviors and externally oriented thinking). The two latent variables featured two latent classes: the difficulty in dealing with problems and the strength to face problems that was representative of most of the healthy participants with specific gender differences. Along with the analysis of psychopathological behaviors, the study of resilience and strengths can prove to be a key step in order to develop valuable preventive approaches to tackle psychiatric disorders.     

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.     

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.     

Subtypes of severe psychological distress among US Air Force remote warriors: A latent class analysis

US Air Force remote warrior personnel include a range of military personnel composed of remotely piloted aircraft aircrew, intelligence operators, and cyber warfare operators. Job duties in these professions entail long work hours, rotating shifts, and regular engagement in combat operations. Although research has identified a number of factors correlated with elevated burnout and emotional distress in this population, little is known about the unique needs of discrete subgroups of distressed personnel. In a sample of 7,550 US Air Force remote warriors, results of latent class analysis yielded four distinct classes. Three of the four reported moderately elevated burnout and job dissatisfaction but differed with respect to demographics and development career stage. The fourth group reported significantly higher levels of emotional distress, burnout, job dissatisfaction, and problems in living. This latter group was comparable to the mid-career group with respect to demographics, although this group had much lower levels of responsibility and indicators of career advancement. Results suggest that, among remote warrior personnel, there are several subtypes of elevated emotional distress. Prevention and intervention strategies that are matched to each subtype may yield better occupational and mental health outcomes than universal, “one size fits all” strategies.     

Effects of context expectation on prospective memory performance among older and younger adults

This experiment examined the impact of context expectation on prospective memory (PM) performance among older and younger adults. Participants responded to PM target words embedded in an ongoing lexical decision task (LDT). Older and younger adults performed similarly on the PM task. Regardless of age, PM was significantly better for participants in the correct context expectation condition and significantly worse in the incorrect context expectation condition relative to participants who held no expectations about the context in which targets would appear. Participants’ LDT response latencies were used to assess cost of the PM task to the ongoing task. Latencies were discernibly longer in the LDT block where the PM targets were expected compared to the block where they were not expected. The findings provide new information about how context can be used to support PM aging and suggest that contextual information can be equally beneficial for older and younger adults.