Age-related associative deficits are absent with nonwords.

Badham, Stephen P.; Maylor, Elizabeth A.

doi:10.1037/a0022205

Cited by 16 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…Our main prediction, that the age-related associative deficit would be alleviated with high-(relative to low-) frequency words, was not supported by the current data. Note that an earlier study found the same when comparing words with nonwords (Badham & Maylor, 2011). Recent research from our laboratory indicates that age differences in the use of prior knowledge depend on the experimental paradigm and this is explored further in the General Discussion in the context of both Experiments 1 and 2.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 73%

Word frequency influences on the list length effect and associative memory in young and older adults

Badham

Whitney

Sanghera

et al. 2016

Memory

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Many studies show that age deficits in memory are smaller for information supported by pre-experimental experience. Many studies also find dissociations in memory tasks between words that occur with high and low frequencies in language, but the literature is mixed regarding the extent of word frequency effects in normal ageing. We examined whether age deficits in episodic memory could be influenced by manipulations of word frequency. In Experiment 1, young and older adults studied short and long lists of high- and low-frequency words for free recall. The list length effect (the drop in proportion recalled for longer lists) was larger in young compared to older adults and for high- compared to low-frequency words. In Experiment 2, young and older adults completed item and associative recognition memory tests with high- and low-frequency words. Age deficits were greater for associative memory than for item memory, demonstrating an age-related associative deficit. High-frequency words led to better associative memory performance whilst low-frequency words resulted in better item memory performance. In neither experiment was there any evidence for age deficits to be smaller for high- relative to low-frequency words, suggesting that word frequency effects on memory operate independently from effects due to cognitive ageing.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 73%

Word frequency influences on the list length effect and associative memory in young and older adults

Badham

Whitney

Sanghera

et al. 2016

Memory

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“…All nonwords had no orthographic neighbors, five to seven letters, no more than two syllables, and had high probability of being correctly identified as a nonword in a lexical decision task (probability range = 0.97 to 1). Nonwords have been used previously as items within associative recognition tasks (Badham & Naylor, 2011; Naveh-Benjamin, 2000). In general, associative recognition tasks can improve with extensive practice (hundreds of trials) (Kray & Eppinger, 2006; Rogers & Fisk, 1991; Wexler et al, 1997) and have been shown to activate brain regions within the hippocampus, striatum, frontal cortex, and anterior cingulated areas (Holcomb, 2004; Kumaran & Maguire, 2007; Meltzer & Constable, 2005; Simon, Vaidya, Howard, & Howard, 2011; Wheeler, McAndrews, Sheard, & Rovet, 2011).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Using Dual Tasks to Test Immediate Transfer of Training Between Naturalistic Movements: A Proof-of-Principle Study

Schaefer

Lang

2012

Journal of Motor Behavior

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Theories of motor learning predict that training a movement reduces the amount of attention needed for its performance (i.e. more automatic). If training one movement transfers, then the amount of attention needed for performing a second movement should also be reduced, as measured under dual task conditions. The purpose of this study was to test whether dual task paradigms are feasible for detecting transfer of training between two naturalistic movements. Immediately following motor training, subjects improved performance of a second untrained movement under both single and dual task conditions. Subjects with no training did not. Improved performance in the untrained movement was likely due to transfer, and suggests that dual tasks may be feasible for detecting transfer between naturalistic actions.

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“…Research has revealed an age-specific impairment for recognition memory of pairs of words and other stimuli [1–5]. Older adults have greater difficulty remembering associations between components of information (e.g., a person’s face and name) than individual components (e.g., a person’s face, a person’s name; [6]).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Age differences in encoding strategies might explain age differences in associative memory but why do older adults often perform equivalently to younger adults on the item task? To explain this age by test-type interaction effect, researchers have suggested that existing knowledge may be especially helpful to older adults on the item test, boosting their performance above that on the associative task through the creation of new concepts and/or mediators [1, 15–17]. Compared to college-aged students, older adults are likely to have a larger assortment of experiences and knowledge that can support performance in a single-item recognition task [16].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Age-related associative deficit patterns have been found for name–face pairs [16, 29], picture pairs [30], semantic pairs (e.g., occupation) of faces and names [31], and face–spatial location pairs [32]. In contrast, the deficit is absent for non-words (e.g., bligma , lossens ) [1], and proper name pairs [2]. Badham and Maylor [1] suggest that because pre-existing knowledge cannot be used to remember non-word stimuli, younger and older adults rely on familiarity-based processing, leading them to perform similarly on item and associative tasks.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Artificial neural networks reveal individual differences in metacognitive monitoring of memory

et al. 2019

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Previous work supports an age-specific impairment for recognition memory of pairs of words and other stimuli. The present study tested the generalization of an associative deficit across word, name, and nonword stimulus types in younger and older adults. Participants completed associative and item memory tests in one of three stimulus conditions and made metacognitive ratings of perceptions of self-efficacy, task success (“postdictions”), strategy success, task effort, difficulty, fatigue, and stamina. Surprisingly, no support was found for an age-related associative deficit on any of the stimulus types. We analyzed our data further using a multilayer perceptron artificial neural network. The network was trained to classify individuals as younger or older and its hidden unit activities were examined to identify data patterns that distinguished younger from older participants. Analysis of hidden unit activities revealed that the network was able to correctly classify by identifying three different clusters of participants, with two qualitatively different groups of older individuals. One cluster of older individuals found the tasks to be relatively easy, they believed they had performed well, and their beliefs were accurate. The other cluster of older individuals found the tasks to be difficult, believed they were performing relatively poorly, yet their beliefs did not map accurately onto their performance. Crucially, data from the associative task were more useful for neural networks to discriminate between younger and older adults than data from the item task. This work underscores the importance of considering both individual and age differences as well as metacognitive responses in the context of associative memory paradigms.

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Age-related associative deficits are absent with nonwords.

Cited by 16 publications

References 37 publications

Word frequency influences on the list length effect and associative memory in young and older adults

Word frequency influences on the list length effect and associative memory in young and older adults

Using Dual Tasks to Test Immediate Transfer of Training Between Naturalistic Movements: A Proof-of-Principle Study

Artificial neural networks reveal individual differences in metacognitive monitoring of memory

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