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)     

An individual differences analysis of ability and strategy influences: Age-related differences in associative learning.

The relationships among abilities, strategies, and performance on an associative learning task were investigated for young (aged 17 to 34) and older adults (aged 60 to 82). Participants received extensive practice on a noun-pair task in which they could use a visual-scanning strategy or a memory-retrieval strategy. Older adults were more likely to use the scanning strategy. Age differences were reduced when comparisons were made only for participants using a retrieval strategy. Associative memory was predictive of learning on the task, and semantic memory access speed was predictive of practiced performance. Practiced performance on a memory-search task that also required associative learning was predictive of practiced noun-pair performance. Models of ability-performance relationships for skill acquisition are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Examination of relationships among trait-like individual differences, state-like individual differences, and learning performance.

Several authors (e.g., J. T. Austin & H. J. Klein, 1996; R. Kanfer, 1990b, 1992) have urged researchers to examine comprehensive models of distal individual differences as predictors of proximal motivational processes and performance. Two field studies in an academic setting tested a model of relationships among trait-like individual differences (cognitive ability, general self-efficacy, and goal orientation), state-like individual differences (state anxiety, task-specific self-efficacy, and goals), and learning performance. Most hypothesized relationships among these constructs received support when tested on 2 samples, when examining different performance episodes, and when using different goal orientation and state-anxiety measures. In general, state-like individual differences were found to mediate the relationships between trait-like individual differences and learning performance. Implications of these results are discussed and suggestions for future research are provided. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Determinants of individual differences and gender differences in knowledge.

The authors investigated the abilities, self-concept, personality, interest, motivational traits, and other determinants of knowledge across physical sciences/technology, biology/psychology, humanities, and civics domains. Tests and self-report measures were administered to 320 university freshmen. Crystallized intelligence was a better predictor than was fluid intelligence for most knowledge domains. Gender differences favoring men were found for most knowledge domains. Accounting for intelligence reduced the gender influence in predicting knowledge differences. Inclusion of notability predictors further reduced the variance accounted for by gender. Analysis of Advanced Placement test scores largely supported the results of the knowledge tests. Results are consistent with theoretical predictions that development of intellect as knowledge results from investment of cognitive resources, which, in turn, is affected by a small set of trait complexes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Personality, motivation, and performance: A theory of the relationship between individual differences and information processing.

Presents a model to relate the personality dimensions of introversion–extraversion, achievement motivation, and anxiety to efficient cognitive performance. It is demonstrated how these personality dimensions in combination with situational moderators (e.g., success, failure, time pressure, incentives, time of day, stimulant drugs) affect the motivational constructs of arousal and effort. A general information-processing model that accounts for the systematic effects of these motivational states on certain task components (sustained information transfer and some aspect of short-term memory) is proposed. Empirical generalizations about task components in a structural model are combined, and testable predictions that differentiate alternative motivational hypotheses are derived. (132 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Aging and individual differences in the development of skilled memory search performance.

We examined individual differences in measures of multiple intellectual abilities and performance on a pure memory search task over 5 experimental sessions. Old (n?=?104) and young (n?=?97) participants showed expected patterns of substantial improvement in memory search intercepts and slopes in consistently mapped (CM) conditions, relative to varied mapping (VM) conditions. Initial (unskilled) CM and VM memory search was highly correlated with a Semantic Memory Access Speed factor and moderately correlated with General Intelligence. Structural equation models showed that measures of Semantic Memory Access remained a strong predictor of skilled CM search performance in both age groups despite individual differences in CM memory search performance changes. These results indicate qualitative differences in the nature of automaticity between memory search and visual search and suggest age invariance in the mechanisms determining automaticity in memory search. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Selective attention in human associative learning and recognition memory.

Four experiments examined the role of selective attention in a new causal judgment task that allowed measurement of both causal strength and cue recognition. In Experiments 1 and 2, blocking was observed; pretraining with 1 cue (A) resulted in reduced learning about a 2nd cue (B) when those 2 cues were trained in compound (AB+). Participants also demonstrated decreased recognition performance for the causally redundant Cue B, suggesting that less attention had been paid to it in training. This is consistent with the idea that attention is preferentially allocated toward the more predictive Cue A, and away from the less predictive Cue B (e.g., N. J. Mackintosh, 1975). Contrary to this hypothesis, in Experiments 3 and 4, participants demonstrated poorer recognition for the most predictive cues, relative to control cues. A new model, which is based on N. J. Mackintosh's (1975) model, is proposed to account for the observed relationship between the extent to which each cue is attended to, learned about, and later recognized. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relationships between metamemory, memory predictions, and memory task performance in adults.

A cross-sectional sample of adults recalled categorized word lists and narrative texts. Subjects gave performance predictions before each of 3 recall trials for each task. Older subjects had poorer memory performance and also predicted lower performance levels than did younger subjects. The LISREL models suggested (a) direct effects of memory self-efficacy (MSE) on initial predictions; (b) upgrading of prediction–performance correlations across trials, determined by direct effects of performance on subsequent predictions; (c) significant effects of a higher order verbal memory factor on MSE; and (d) an independent relationship of text recall ability to initial text recall performance predictions. These results lend support to the theoretical treatment of predictions as task-specific MSE judgments. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Adult age differences in predicting memory performance: The effects of normative information and task experience.

Two experiments addressed the effects of task information and experience on younger and older adults' ability to predict their memory for words. The 1st study, which involved 36 women (aged 20–30 yrs) and 36 women (aged 65–75 yrs), examined the effects of normative task information on Ss' predictions for 30-word lists across 3 trials. The 2nd study, which involved 2 groups of men and women (128 Ss total; aged 19–30 yrs and 54–77 yrs), examined the effects of making predictions and recalling either an easy or a difficult word list prior to making predictions and recalling a moderately difficult word list. Results from both studies showed that task information and experience affected Ss' predictions and that elderly adults predicted their performance more accurately than did younger adults. (French abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Hemisphere-specific interference in dichotic listening: Task variables and individual differences.

In Exps I and II, 214 right-handed college students were required to identify dichotically presented CV syllables with either no concurrent memory (CM) load or with a CM load of 6 low-imagery nouns. Based on performance on their initial set of no-load trials, Ss were assigned to either a right-, left-, or no-ear advantage (REA, LEA, or NEA) group. Results for the REA group were similar to the results of previous studies of visual laterality and concurrent activity: Introducing a CM load of 6 words reduced recognition of right-ear CVs but not left-ear CVs. Furthermore, these effects persisted across 2 blocks of no-load and memory-load trials. This Memory Load?×?Ear interaction was weaker in the NEA group and tended to be reversed in the LEA group. About 10% of Ss showed a consistent LEA for CV recognition, and, for these Ss, introducing a CM load of 6 words reduced recognition of left-ear CVs but did not change the recognition of right-ear CVs. Again, these effects persisted across 2 blocks of no-load and memory load trials. Exp III (48 Ss) was similar to Exps I and II except that the CM task involved nonsense shapes that could probably be processed by either hemisphere. Introducing this concurrent nonverbal memory task did not reduce the recognition of either right- or left-ear CVs. Results indicate that the verbal nature of the concurrent task appears to be critical, as in previous visual laterality experiments. (48 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Age, gender, and individual differences in memory failure appraisal.

Young adults (22 men and 24 women) and older adults (24 men and 24 women) rated 12 gender-neutral vignettes describing short-term, long-term, and very-long-term memory failures. Vignette target persons were young (aged 21–32 yrs) or older (aged 65–75 yrs) men or women. Ss of both age and gender groups used a double standard: Failures of older targets of both genders were rated as signifying greater mental difficulty than failures of young targets; failures of young targets were attributed to lack of effort and attention. Young Ss judged very-long-term failures more harshly than did older Ss. Ss' objective memory performance, self-rated memory failure frequency, memory failure discomfort, and depression made little difference in their target person ratings. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The role of individual differences in field dependence as a factor in learning and memory.

A review of the literature relating individual differences in field dependence to learning and memory suggests the following conclusions: (a) Field-dependent Ss are dominated by the salient cues in concept attainment problems, whereas field-independent Ss sample more fully from the available cue set. (b) Field-dependent Ss tend to use "spectator" approaches to learning. Whereas field-independent Ss more often use "participant" approaches. (c) Field independence is related to frequency of dream recall. (d) Field dependence is related to the magnitude of stress effects on learning and memory. (e) Field independence is related to performance effectiveness under conditons of intrinsic motivation. (f) Field dependence is related to the effectiveness of negative reinforcement. (g) Incidental learning of social information is greater among field-dependent than among field-independent Ss. (5 p ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Achievement motivation: Conceptions of ability, subjective experience, task choice, and performance.

Achievement behavior is defined as behavior directed at developing or demonstrating high rather than low ability. Ability can be conceived either with reference to the individual's own past performance or knowledge, a context in which gains in mastery indicate competence, or as capacity relative to that of others, a context in which a gain in mastery alone does not indicate high ability. To demonstrate high capacity, one must achieve more with equal effort or use less effort than do others for an equal performance. The conditions under which these different conceptions of ability function as individuals' goals and the nature of subjective experience in each case are specified. Different predictions of task choice and performance are derived and tested for each case using data from previously published studies. The effects of task and ego involvement, task choice, and self-perceptions are discussed. (125 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Note-taking, individual differences, and memory for lecture information.

Investigated the encoding function of note taking and processing differences between successful and less successful students in lecture situations in 2 experiments. In Exp I, 48 undergraduates either took notes or listened during a lecture. Different memory patterns were found for these 2 groups, with note-takers recalling many more high- than low-importance propositions and listeners recalling an equal number of high- and low-importance propositions. Results suggest that note taking enhanced organizational processing of lecture information. In Exp II, the notes and recall of 80 successful and less successful students were compared. Successful Ss recalled more of the most important propositions, but these 2 groups of Ss did not differ in their recall of less important propositions. For both groups of Ss, recall content was closely related to the content of the notes, with successful Ss recording more high-importance propositions in their notes. Also, successful and less successful Ss were similar in their note-taking styles and the degree to which they benefited from reviewing their notes. (17 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Working memory and individual differences in comprehension and memory of text.

Attempted to determine whether working memory processes measured by the Reading Span Test would be strongly associated with the ability to integrate information from different parts of a passage to infer an idea not explicitly stated in the passage. The study also assessed the influence of working memory processes on ability to encode explicitly stated and inferred information into long-term memory. 29 undergraduates were administered a letter span test and a reading span test. The ability to store and process information in working memory was shown to be positively related to (a) scores on a standardized reading comprehension test, (b) long-term memory encoding and retrieval of explicitly stated text information, and (c) integration of text information for the purpose of drawing inferences. Variations in only the storage capacity of working memory were not related to these measures. It is concluded that the ability to coordinate storage and process functions in working memory may be an important determinant of text processing skill, especially with respect to encoding information into long-term memory. (12 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Everyday memory performance across the life span: Effects of age and noncognitive individual differences.

Gerontologists have long been concerned with the impact of individual-difference factors on memory. This study used a large sample (N?=?2,495) of adult volunteers (aged 18–90 yrs) to determine if a set of individual-difference variables (vocabulary, education, depression, gender, marital status, and employment status) mediated the effects of aging on a wide range of laboratory-analog tests of everyday memory. The data indicated that age was consistently the most significant predictor of memory performance, followed by vocabulary and gender. Vocabulary totally mediated age effects on a prose memory measure, and partial mediation of aging effects, primarily by vocabulary and gender, was observed on 5 other memory tests. These data suggest that when healthy samples of volunteers serve as research Ss, these individual differences can affect some memory test scores, but age remains the best overall predictor of memory performance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Age and individual differences in prospective memory during a "Virtual Week": The roles of working memory, vigilance, task regularity, and cue focality.

Young (ages 18–22 years) and older (ages 61–87 years) adults (N = 106) played the Virtual Week board game, which involves simulating common prospective memory (PM) tasks of everyday life (e.g., taking medication), and performed working memory (WM) and vigilance tasks. The Virtual Week game includes regular (repeated) and irregular (nonrepeated) PM tasks with cues that are either more or less focal to other ongoing activities. Age differences in PM were reduced for repeated tasks, and performance improved over the course of the week, suggesting retrieval was more spontaneous or habitual. Correlations with WM within each age group were reduced for PM tasks that had more regular or focal cues. WM (but not vigilance) ability was a strong predictor of irregular PM tasks with less focal cues. Taken together, these results support the hypothesis that habitual and focally cued PM tasks are less demanding of attentional resources (specifically, WM), whereas tasks that are more demanding of controlled attentional processes produce larger age differences, which may be attributable to individual differences in WM. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Word naming and memory load: Still searching for an individual differences explanation.

S. E. Bernstein and T. H. Carr (1996) and P. M. Pexman and S. J. Lupker (1995) suggested that classifiable individual differences in word-naming performance can account for the varied findings on the naming and memory load task (NMLT; K. R. Paap and R. W. Noel, 1991). Bernstein and Carr's technique of testing their explanation by using performance on part of the NMLT to classify participants is problematic, however. To remedy this, in the present study participants were classified on the basis of performance on a priori tasks: Participants completed a naming task, a naming task with low memory load, and the NMLT. Performance on the NMLT was not predicted by performance on either a priori task, thus providing no support for either Bernstein and Carr's or Pexman and Lupker's individual differences accounts. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Behavioral facilitation: A cognitive model of individual differences in approach motivation.

Approach motivation consists of the active, engaged pursuit of one's goals. The purpose of the present three studies (N = 258) was to examine whether approach motivation could be cognitively modeled, thereby providing process-based insights into personality functioning. Behavioral facilitation was assessed in terms of faster (or facilitated) reaction time with practice. As hypothesized, such tendencies predicted higher levels of approach motivation, higher levels of positive affect, and lower levels of depressive symptoms and did so across cognitive, behavioral, self-reported, and peer-reported outcomes. Tendencies toward behavioral facilitation, on the other hand, did not correlate with self-reported traits (Study 1) and did not predict avoidance motivation or negative affect (all studies). The results indicate a systematic relationship between behavioral facilitation in cognitive tasks and approach motivation in daily life. Results are discussed in terms of the benefits of modeling the cognitive processes hypothesized to underlie individual differences motivation, affect, and depression. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Goal orientation and task demand effects on motivation, affect, and performance.

Two studies tested the joint effects of goal orientation and task demands on motivation, affect, and performance, examining different factors affecting task demands. In Study 1 (N?=?199), task difficulty was found to moderate the effect of goal orientation on performance and affect (i.e., satisfaction with performance). In Study 2 (N?≠&189), task consistency was found to moderate the effect of goal orientation on self-efficacy and intrinsic motivation. Results are discussed in relation to self-regulatory processes cued by goal orientations, attentional resource demands, and the need to match goal orientations to the nature of the task. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)