Several judgment and decision-making tasks are assumed to involve memory functions, but significant knowledge gaps on the memory processes underlying these tasks remain. In a study on 568 adults between 25 to 80 years, hypotheses were tested on the specific relationships between individual differences in working memory, episodic memory, and semantic memory, respectively, and six main components of decision-making competence. In line with the hypotheses, working memory was positively related with the more cognitively-demanding tasks (Resistance to Framing, Applying Decision Rules, and Under/Overconfidence), whereas episodic memory was positively associated with a more experience-based judgment task (Recognizing Social Norms). Furthermore, semantic memory was positively related with two more knowledge-based decision-making tasks (Consistency in Risk Perception and Resistance to Sunk Costs). Finally, the age-related decline observed in some of the decision-making tasks was (partially or totally) mediated by the age-related decline in working memory or episodic memory. These findings are discussed in relation to the functional roles fulfilled by different memory processes in judgment and decision-making tasks.Keywords: Judgment and decision making; Decision-making competence; Working memory; Episodic memory; Semantic memory; Cognitive aging; Individual differences. MEMORY AND DECISION MAKING 3The Multifold Relationship Between Memory and Decision Making: An Individual-differences Study Among the more promising research developments in the field of judgment and decision making is the attempt to ground judgment and decision-making processes in findings and models derived from memory research, tracing complex cognitive tasks back to their basic cognitive roots to improve the understanding of how individuals perform these tasks. Indeed, memory can play an important role in several aspects of judgment and decision-making tasks (for reviews see, e.g., Alba, Hutchinson & Lynch, 1991;Dougherty, Gronlund & Gettys, 2003;Tomlinson, Marewski & Dougherty, 2011;Weber, Goldstein & Barlas, 1995), and the age-related decline observed in some aspects of memory functioning (Park, 2000;Park et al., 1996Park et al., , 2002Salthouse, 2004) can mediate part of the age-related changes in decision-making abilities. However, the investigation of the role of memory functions in decision making has been scattered and nonsystematic, leaving various knowledge gaps about which memory functions underly specific decision-making tasks open. The study presented in this paper aims to fill some of these gaps through a systematic analysis of the relationships between individual differences in memory processes and individual differences in various aspects of decision-making competence, guided by a functional view of memory processes in decision making.In the next section, the theoretical background of the research will be presented, followed by the specific hypotheses of the study, which refer to the contribution of different memory processes to ...
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