The associative memory deficit of older adults: The role of strategy utilization.

Past research has established an associative deficit hypothesis (e.g., M. Naveh-Benjamin, 2000) that attributes part of older adults' poor episodic memory performance to their difficulty in creating and retrieving cohesive episodes. Here, the authors evaluate the degree to which this deficit can be reduced by older adults' use of associative strategies. Young and older adults learned word pairs under either intentional-learning instructions or instructions eliciting associative strategies either at encoding or both at encoding and at retrieval, and they then took tests on their memory for both the components and the associations. Results replicated the associative deficit of older adults under intentional-learning instructions. In addition, they showed that instructions to use appropriate associative strategies during either encoding or, even more so, during encoding and retrieval resulted in a significant decrease in the associative deficit. The theoretical and applied implications of these results are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The associative deficit in older adult memory: Recognition of pairs is not improved by repetition.

This study used a novel experimental paradigm that combined associative recognition and list discrimination to study the associative deficit in older adults’ memory (M. Naveh-Benjamin, 2000). Participants viewed 2 lists of word–face pairs and were tested on recognition of pairs from the second study list. Older and young adults’ recognition was increased by repetition of individual items, but repetition of pairs of items increased recognition in young adults only. This provides converging evidence that older adults do not form associative links between items within pairs and supports the hypothesis that an associative deficit contributes to age-related memory decline. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Adult age differences in episodic memory: Further support for an associative-deficit hypothesis.

This study further tested an associative-deficit hypothesis (ADH; M. Naveh-Benjamin, 2000), which attributes a substantial part of older adults' deficient episodic memory performance to their difficulty in merging unrelated attributes-units of an episode into a cohesive unit. First, the results of 2 experiments replicate those observed by M. Naveh-Benjamin (2000) showing that older adults are particularly deficient in memory tests requiring associations. Second, the results extend the type of stimuli (pictures) under which older adults show this associative deficit. Third, the results support an ADH in that older adults show less of an associative deficit when the components of the episodes used are already connected in memory, thereby facilitating their encoding and retrieval. Finally, a group of younger adults who encoded the information under divided-attention conditions did not show this associative deficit. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Differential effects of age on item and associative measures of memory: A meta-analysis.

In this meta-analysis, the authors evaluated recent suggestions that older adults' episodic memory impairments are partially due to a reduced ability to encode and retrieve associated/bound units of information. Results of 90 studies of episodic memory for both item and associative information in 3,197 young and 3,192 older adults provided support for the age-related associative/binding deficit suggestion, indicating a larger effect of age on memory for associative information than for item information. Moderators assessed included the type of associations, encoding instructions, materials, and test format. Results indicated an age-related associative deficit in memory for source, context, temporal order, spatial location, and item pairings, in both verbal and nonverbal material. An age-related associative deficit was quite pronounced under intentional learning instructions but was not clearly evident under incidental learning instructions. Finally, test format was also found to moderate the associative deficit, with older adults showing an associative/binding deficit when item memory was evaluated via recognition tests but not when item memory was evaluated via recall tests, in which case the age-related deficits were similar for item and associative information. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The Effects of Aging and Divided Attention on Memory for Item and Associative Information.

The present study examined how aging and divided attention influence memory for item and associative information. Older adults and younger adults working under full-attention conditions and younger adults working under divided-attention conditions studied unrelated word pairs. Memory for item information was measured by later recognition of the 2nd word in the pair, and associative information was measured by recognition of the entire pair. Both older adults in the full-attention condition and younger adults in the divided-attention condition performed more poorly than younger adults in the full-attention condition, with the deficit in associative information being greater than the deficit in item information. In addition, a differentially greater associative decrement was found for the older adults, as shown by their heightened tendency to make false-alarm responses to re-paired (conjunction) distractors. The results are discussed in terms of an age-related reduction in processing resources compounded by an age-related increase in older adults' reliance on familiarity in associative recognition memory. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Memory for people and their actions: Further evidence for an age-related associative deficit.

The associative deficit hypothesis (M. Naveh-Benjamin, 2000) attributes age-related memory deficits to the inability to encode and retrieve bound units of information. The present experiment extended this deficit to a new form of stimuli, dynamic displays of people and their performance of everyday actions. Older and younger adults viewed a series of brief video clips, each showing a different person performing a different action, and were tested over memory for individual people, individual actions, and the person-action combinations. Older adults did exhibit an associative deficit, and this was related to an increased proportion of false alarms on the associative test. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Associative recognition of face pairs by younger and older adults: The role of familiarity-based processing.

Previous research suggested that older adults have a specific impairment in remembering verbal associative information, but it is unclear how elaboration and familiarity might influence this deficit in situations that involve perceptual processing. In the present experiments, younger and older participants studied male-female pairs of faces. Participants were then administered an associative recognition test consisting of previously studied pairs, pairs that contained previously studied items that were not studied together (i.e., conjunction pairs), and entirely new pairs of faces, and participants were instructed to identify pairs that had been presented together at study. Overall, participants were successful at recognizing previously presented pairs but were highly likely to mistakenly endorse conjunction pairs. This pattern was more pronounced for older adults, especially when items were repeated at encoding. Such data suggest that memory for face pairs relies largely on the familiarity of each face and not on a more precise recollection of associative information. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Age-related deficits in associative memory: The influence of impaired strategic retrieval.

In 2 experiments, the authors investigated whether impaired strategic retrieval processes contribute to the age-related deficit in associative memory. To do so, they compared older and younger adults on measures of associative memory that place high demands on retrieval processes (associative identification and recall-to-reject) to measures that place low demands on such processes (associative reinstatement and recall-to-accept). Results showed that older adults were severely impaired on associative identification and recall-to-reject measures; relatively intact on recall-to-accept measures, unless recollection was prominent; and intact on associative reinstatement measures. Together, these findings suggest that impairment in strategic retrieval accounts for older adults' deficits in memory for associative information and that this deficit, above and beyond poor binding of items, leads to and amplifies an impairment in overall recollection. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Adult age differences in memory performance: Tests of an associative deficit hypothesis.

An associative hypothesis to explain and predict older adults' deficient explicit episodic memory performance was outlined and tested. The hypothesis attributes a substantial part of older adults' deficient memory performance to their difficulty in merging unrelated attributes-units of an episode into a cohesive unit. Although each of the components can be memorized to a reasonable degree, the associations that tie the attributes-units to each other grow weaker in old age. Four experiments are reported that provide (a) a converging validity to the hypothesis by demonstrating this associative deficit for both interitem relationships and intraitem relationships and (b) a discriminant validity to the hypothesis by contrasting and testing competing predictions made by the associative hypothesis and by alternative hypotheses. The implications of these results to older adults' episodic memory performance are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Age-related associative deficits are absent with nonwords.

Words and nonwords were used as stimuli to assess item and associative recognition memory performance in young and older adults. Participants were presented with pairs of items and then tested on both item memory (old/new items) and associative memory (intact/recombined pairs). For words, older participants performed worse than young participants on item and associative tests but to a greater extent on the latter. In contrast, for nonwords, older participants performed equally worse than young participants on item and associative tests. This is the first study to demonstrate that a manipulation of stimulus novelty can alter age-related associative deficits. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Memory for age–face associations in younger and older adults: The role of generation and schematic support.

Memory for ages of unfamiliar faces was examined in an associative memory task to determine whether generation as well as schematic support (cues from faces) would enhance later cued recall of the age information and reduce older adults' associative deficit. Participants studied faces and were either presented with the age or first had to guess before being shown the correct age. Later, participants were given a cued-recall test. Both younger and older adults exhibited associative memory enhancements from first generating the ages at encoding (a generation effect) despite the fact the initial generation was often inaccurate. Although older adults recalled fewer ages overall compared with younger adults, older adults were able to remember the age information for older faces equally as well as younger adults. However, when errors committed during generation were large and when schematic support was not available to support encoding and retrieval (when the age information was inconsistent given the cues from the face), generating was no longer beneficial for either older or younger adults. Thus, although older adults display an associative deficit when remembering specific age–face associations, this can be reduced through the use of prior knowledge and generation at encoding. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of aging and prospective memory on recognition of item and associative information.

Older adults typically perform worse than younger adults on tasks of associative, relative to item, memory. One account of this deficit is that older adults have fewer attentional resources to encode associative information. Previous researchers investigating this issue have divided attention at encoding and then have examined whether associative and item recognition were differentially affected. In the current study, we used a different cognitive task shown to tax attentional resources: event-based prospective memory. Although older adults demonstrated worse associative, relative to item, memory, the presence of the prospective memory task at encoding decreased item and associative memory accuracy to the same extent in both age groups. These results do not support the resource account of age-related associative deficits. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The effects of pure pair repetition on younger and older adults' associative memory.

Although aging causes relatively minor impairment in recognition memory for components, older adults' ability to remember associations between components is typically significantly compromised, relative to that of younger adults. This pattern could be associated with older adults' relatively intact familiarity, which helps preserve component memory, coupled with a marked decline in recollection, which leads to a decline in associative memory. The purpose of the current study is to explore possible methods that allow older adults to rely on pair familiarity in order to improve their associative memory performance. Participants in 2 experiments were repeatedly presented with either single items or pairings of items prior to a study list so that the items and the pairs were already familiar during the study phase. Pure pair repetition (the effects of pair repetition after the effects of item repetition are taken into account) increased associative memory for older and younger adults. Findings based on remember and know judgments suggest that familiarity but not recollection is involved in mediating the repetition effect. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of aging and divided attention on memory for items and their contexts.

It is commonly found that memory for context declines disproportionately with aging, arguably due to a general age-related deficit in associative memory processes. One possible mechanism for such deficits is an age-related reduction in available processing resources. In two experiments we compared the effects of aging to the effects of division of attention in younger adults on memory for items and context. Using a technique proposed by Craik (1989), linear functions relating memory performance for items and their contexts were derived for a Young Full Attention group, a Young Divided Attention group, and an Older Adult group. Results suggested that the Old group showed an additional deficit in associative memory that was not mimicked by divided attention. It is speculated that both divided attention and aging are associated with a loss of available processing resources that may reflect inefficient frontal lobe functioning, whereas the additional age-related decrement in associative memory may reflect inefficient processing in medial-temporal regions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Associative deficit in recognition memory in a lifespan sample of healthy adults.

Advanced age is associated with decrements in episodic memory, which are more pronounced in memory for associations than for individual items. The associative deficit hypothesis (ADH) states that age differences in recognition memory reflect difficulty in binding components of a memory episode and retrieving bound units. To date, ADH has received support only in studies of extreme age groups, and the influence of sex, education, and health on age-related associative deficit is unknown. We address those issues using a verbal paired-associate yes–no recognition paradigm on a lifespan sample of 278 healthy, well-educated adults. In accord with the ADH, greater age was associated with lower hit and greater false alarm rates and more liberal response bias on associative recognition tests. Women outperformed men on recognition of items and associations, but among normotensive participants, women outperformed men only on memory for associations and not on item recognition. Thus, although supporting ADH in a large lifespan sample of healthy adults, the findings indicate that the effect may be partially driven by an age-related increase in liberal bias in recognition of associations. Sex differences and health factors may modify the associative deficit regardless of age. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of aging, distraction, and response pressure on the binding of actors and actions.

Two experiments provide evidence for an age-related deficit in the binding of actors with actions that is distinct from binding deficits associated with distraction or response pressure. Young and older adults viewed a series of actors performing different actions. Participants returned 1 week later for a recognition test. Older adults were more likely than young adults to falsely recognize novel conjunctions of familiar actors and actions. This age-related binding deficit occurred even when older adults could discriminate old items from new items just as well as could young adults. Young adults who experienced distraction or time pressure also had difficulty discriminating old items from conjunction items, but this deficit was accompanied by a deficit at discriminating old and new items. These results suggest that distraction and response pressure lead to deficits in memory for stimulus components, with any deficits in binding ability commensurate with these deficits in component memory. Aging, in turn, may lead to binding difficulties that are independent of attention-demanding executive processes involved in maintaining individual stimulus components in working memory, likely reflecting declines in hippocampally mediated associative processes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Distinguishing Age Differences in Knowledge, Strategy Use, and Confidence During Strategic Skill Acquisition.

The authors examined how age differences in strategy selection are related to associative learning deficits and metacognitive variables, including memory ability confidence. In Experiment 1, increases in memory reliance for performance of the noun-pair lookup task were compared with increases in noun-pair memory ability. In Experiment 2, memory reliance was assessed for noun pairs memorized prior to the task. In each experiment, older adults manifested a substantial delay in transition to a retrieval-based strategy despite comparable noun-pair knowledge. In Experiment 3, young and older adults reported comparable confidence ratings for the accuracy of each memory probe response. However, older adults reported lower confidence in their general ability to use the memory retrieval strategy, which correlated with avoidance of the retrieval strategy. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Associative and strategic components of episodic memory: A life-span dissociation.

The authors investigated the strategic component (i.e., elaboration and organization of episodic features) and the associative component (i.e., binding processes) of episodic memory and their interactions in 4 age groups (10-12, 13-15, 20-25, and 70-75 years of age). On the basis of behavioral and neural evidence, the authors hypothesized that the two components are functionally related but follow different life-span gradients. In a fully crossed design, age differences in recognition memory for single words versus word pairs (associative demand manipulation) were examined under instructions that emphasized item, pair, or elaborative-pair encoding (strategy manipulation). As predicted, the results showed that the strategic and associative components follow different life-span trajectories. Relative to younger adults, children's difficulties in episodic memory primarily reflected lower levels of strategic functioning. In contrast, older adults showed impairments in both strategic and associative components. The authors conclude that the comparison of strategic and associative components of episodic memory across the life span helps to delineate the two components' unique and interactive contributions to episodic memory performance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Dual-Process Models of Associative Recognition in Young and Older Adults: Evidence From Receiver Operating Characteristics.

In 3 experiments, young and older adults studied lists of unrelated word pairs and were given confidence-rated item and associative recognition tests. Several different models of recognition were fit to the confidence-rating data using techniques described by S. Macho (2002, 2004). Concordant with previous findings, item recognition data were best fit by an unequal-variance signal detection theory model for both young and older adults. For both age groups, associative recognition performance was best explained by models incorporating both recollection and familiarity components. Examination of parameter estimates supported the conclusion that recollection is reduced in old age, but inferences about age differences in familiarity were highly model dependent. Implications for dual-process models of memory in old age are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

The effects of age in four alternative forced-choice item and associative recognition tasks.

Seventy-three young and 84 older adults were taught interactive imagery as a strategy for learning word pairs. In the control condition, participants viewed word pairs 1 at a time and formed an interactive image for each. In the experimental condition, participants first formed individual mental images for both the cue and the target and then formed an interactive image for the pair. Participants in both conditions then completed 4 alternative forced-choice item and associative recognition tasks that avoid influences of age differences in retrieval strategies such as recall-to-reject. Unlike findings with typical yes–no recognition tests, associative recognition was superior to item recognition in the control condition. This effect was attenuated in the experimental condition. Older adults had poorer recognition memory for both associative and item tests, with a larger age difference for recognizing new associations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)