Age-related differences in the specificity of verbal encoding

Abstract

A communication paradigm was used as an analogue to cued recall to separate age-related differences in encoding and retrieval. Younger and older adults (senders) generated a series of oneword clues that would enable other subjects (receivers) to generate a designated target word. Clue and target generation tasks, analogous to the encoding and retrieval components of cued recall, were conducted in the context of either a strong or a weak associate of the target. Clues generated by older senders were less effective than clues generated by younger senders in enabling receivers to generate targets, especially when clues or targets were generated in the context of a weak associate. A deficit among older receivers was also obtained, especially when a weakrather than a strong-associate context word was given to the receiver. Older adults experience difficulty with encoding and retrieval tasks that require processing of context-specific information that is not part of the generic information typically associated with a stimulus.The memory deficits experienced by elderly adults have been characterized by Craik and Simon (1980) as a consequence of the tendency to process the general or global features of an item, rather than the context-specific information that makes an item distinctive from other events in memory. Furthermore, the lack of contextual processing is attributed to a deficit in the availability of attentional resources. General information can be encoded automatically and effortlessly, but contextual integration is effortful and requires the expenditure of processing resources that are more strictly limited in the elderly (Craik & Byrd, 1982).Support for the idea that the encoding processes of younger and older adults are qualitatively different has been provided by studies done with the cued recall task. In this task, memory performance can be interpreted in terms of the encoding specificity principle, by which the nature of the information encoded determines whether a retrieval cue will be effective (Tulving & Thomson, 1973). For example, Simon (1979) compared the performance of younger and older adults when memory was cued by sentence frames in which targets had been embedded at study, and when no retrieval cue was provided. Sentence cues were found to be effective only for younger adults, suggesting that integration of target words with sentence contexts during encoding was curtailed in older subjects. The effectiveness of contextual cues was also This research was supported by Grant A7910 from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada to M. Masson. We are grateful to David Hultsch for allowing us to make use of the pool of older adult volunteers that he has developed. We extend thanks to Ian Begg, James Chumbley, and David Mitchell for helpful comments on an earlier version of this article. Correspondence regarding this article should be addressed to Michael Masson, Department of Psychology, University of Victoria. P.O. Box 3050. Victoria. Be. Canada V8W 3PS (e-mail address:mrnasso...

Modeling and estimating recall processing capacity: Sensitivity and diagnostic utility in application to mild cognitive impairment

“…The necessity of these conditions is indicated by documented age-related differences in abilities related to encoding and immediate memory (e.g., Eysenck & Eysenck, 1979; Salthouse & Babcock, 1991; Waugh & Barr, 1982), in the extent to which both general (e.g., Larrabee, Youngjohn, Sudilovsky & Crook, 1993) and specific information (e.g., episodic features) are retained over time (e.g., Johnson, Leonardis, Hashtroudi & Ferguson, 1995), and in the relative effectiveness of various types of cuing conditions (e.g., Craik, 1994; Faust, Balota & Spieler, 2001; Micco & Masson, 1992; Smith, 1977). …”

Remembering and forgetting as context discrimination.

“…If this is the case, then elderly subjects should be less likely to produce effective cues than younger subjects. Micco and Masson (1992) tested this by asking one set of older and younger subjects to generate a set of one-word cues that would enable another person to produce the target item. A second group of both young and elderly were then given the cues and asked to produce the appropriate target word, which they had not seen.…”

Identidad personal y memoria en adultos mayores sin demencia y con enfermedad de Alzheimer

“…Ello porque además una gran parte del mundo social está contenida en los recuerdos mismos. Así, se ha comprobado en esta investigación la importancia de la familiaridad en la evocación de los recuerdos hallada también en estudios de Barlett & Fulton (1991), Micco & Masson (1992), Schacter (1996) y Vásquez (2001).…”

“…La reminiscencia como función que permite recordar pensando o relatando hechos, actos o vivencias del pasado, es una actividad psíquica universal que parece ser necesaria en el envejecimiento y en la vejez, en tanto favorece la integración del pasado al presente, brinda continuidad, refuerza la identidad, aumenta la autoestima y permite la resignificación (Butler, 2002;Merill, 2002;Vásquez, 2001;Harrand & Bollstetter, 2000;Viguera, 1997;Bonilla & Rapso, 1997;Schacter, 1996;Micco & Masson, 1992;Barlett & Fulton, 1991;Waterman & Archer, 1990). Al respecto, Chaudhury (1999) añade que la reminiscencia sirve a múltiples propósitos para la identidad en los ancianos: a) contribuye al mantenimiento de la autoestima en un momento de declive físico y cognitivo; b) preserva la identidad como fundamento de la estabilidad psicológica y c) en contextos sociales, transmite conocimientos a generaciones futuras.…”

“…Con el reconocimiento de que el desarrollo humano y el proceso de construcción de la identidad personal ocurren a lo largo del ciclo vital, el estudio responde además a la imperiosa necesidad de conocimientos específicos desde la psicología a nivel nacional sobre temáticas como vejez, identidad personal en la adultez mayor, memoria, recuerdo autobiográfico y enfermedades demenciales, dada la carencia de investigación sistemática identificada en una indagación particular de antecedentes de investigación (Salazar, 2003). Ello, aún y cuando las tendencias mundiales realizan importantes esfuerzos teóricos y aplicados en torno al estudio de la dimensión de memoria en la vejez para: 1) reconocer las características de su funcionamiento y diferenciar las manifestaciones neuropsicológicas de la demencia y el deterioro cognitivo asociado a la edad, conociendo mejor los procesos cognitivos y el sustrato cerebral involucrados en la codificación, el almacenamiento y la evocación de los contenidos autobiográficos (Piolino et al, 2004;D´Esposito & Weksler, 2000;Schacter, 1996;Greene, Hodges & Baddeley, 1995;Micco & Masson, 1992;Bäckman 1991;Bartlett & Fulton, 1991;entre otros);…”