Multinomial models reveal deficits of two distinct controlled retrieval processes in aging and very mild Alzheimer disease

Dual-process models of episodic retrieval reveal consistent deficits of controlled recollection in aging and Alzheimer disease (AD). In contrast, automatic familiarity is relatively spared. We extend standard dual-process models by showing the importance of a third capture process. Capture produces a failure to attempt recollection, which might reflect a distinct error from an inability to recollect when attempted (Jacoby et al. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 134(2), 131–148, 2005a). We used multinomial process tree (MPT) modeling to estimate controlled recollection and capture processes, as well as automatic retrieval processes, in a large group of middle-aged to older adults who were cognitively normal (N = 519) or diagnosed with the earliest detectable stage of AD (N = 107). Participants incidentally encoded word pairs (e.g., knee bone). At retrieval, participants completed cued word fragments (e.g., knee b_n_) with primes that were congruent (e.g., bone), incongruent (e.g., bend), or neutral (i.e., &&&) to the target (e.g., bone). MPT models estimated retrieval processes both at the group and the individual levels. A capture parameter was necessary to fit MPT models to the observed data, suggesting that dual-process models of this task can be contaminated by a capture process. In both group- and individual-level analyses, aging and very mild AD were associated with increased susceptibility to capture, decreased recollection, and no differences in automatic influences. These results suggest that it is important to consider two distinct modes of attentional control when modeling retrieval processes. Both forms of control (recollection and avoiding capture) are particularly sensitive to cognitive decline in aging and early-stage AD.