Responsible Remembering and Forgetting in Younger and Older Adults

People are generally able to selectively attend and remember high-value over low-value information. Here, we investigated whether young and older adults would display typical value-based memory selectivity effects for to-be-learned item-value associations when goal-directed information about the meaning of associated values was presented before and after encoding. In two experiments, both young and older adults were presented with one (Experiment 1) or multiple (Experiment 2) lists of words that were arbitrarily paired with different numerical values (e.g., "door-8") or font colors (e.g., "door" presented in red), which indicated each word's value. In Experiment 1, participants were told that the numerical value indicated the relative importance of each item either before they studied the list (preencoding), after they studied it (postencoding), or not at all (no value control instructions). Older adults were significantly more selective in the preencoding condition relative to the other conditions, whereas younger adults were not selective in any condition on this single-list (numerical) value task of Experiment 1. In Experiment 2, young and older adults were tested on four additional lists of both pre-and postencoding trials each after studying and recalling four lists of words without any value instructions. Results from Experiment 2 revealed that both young and older adults selectively prioritized high-value words on the preencoding trials, but not on postencoding trials, on this color-based categorical (low-medium-high) value task. The present study highlights a critical role of goal-directed knowledge of value-based instructions prior to encoding to facilitate typically observed valuedirected memory selectivity for important information. Public Significance StatementThe present study examines how expectations and goals can influence selective memory for important information in young and older adults. We found that awareness of a value-directed goal state prior to learning may be necessary for effective value-based prioritization of important information in memory, and that younger adults may require several trials of learning to effectively engage processes that maximize memory efficiency compared to older adults who quickly engage these processes. Overall, we provide novel evidence regarding the conditions under which young and older adults engage selective memory processes for important information based on when value-directed goals are implemented.

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Value-directed memory selectivity relies on goal-directed knowledge of value structure prior to encoding in young and older adults.

Schwartz

Siegel

Eich

et al. 2023

“…In everyday life, we are continuously presented with more information than we can remember and must selectively focus on the most important information with consequences for forgetting to maximize memory utility (e.g., Ariel et al, 2009;Castel et al, 2012;Madan, 2017;McGillivray & Castel, 2011;Murphy & Castel, 2020, 2021a, 2021b, 2022bMurphy et al, 2022). However, most previous work examining how learners use value to guide memory processes has utilized procedures whereby participants are presented with a list of information to remember, are tested on that information, and then are presented with the next list of information followed by another test, with each test only examining memory for the just-studied list of information.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the context of direct forgetting (intentional or goal-directed forgetting of certain information), after studying a list of information, both younger and older adults can forget information if they are instructed to forget it (e.g., Biss et al, 2013; Bowen et al, 2020; Murphy & Castel, 2022b; Sahakyan et al, 2008; Sego et al, 2006; Zacks et al, 1996; and see Titz & Verhaeghen, 2010, for a meta-analysis), suggesting that some forms of strategic forgetting are intact in older age (but may be impaired in older old adults over the age of 75; see Aslan & Bäuml, 2013). This mechanism of strategic or adaptive forgetting reduces interference in some situations, although it is unclear how this may differentially influence memory for lower and higher value information (but see Bowen et al, 2020, for a demonstration of how financial reward anticipation can boost younger and older adults’ memory for both to-be-remembered and to-be-forgotten items in a directed forgetting task, indicating that high values can strengthen memory without enhancing strategic control over memory).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Differential effects of proactive and retroactive interference in value-directed remembering for younger and older adults.

Murphy¹,

Castel²

2022

Self Cite

We are often presented with more information than we can remember, and we must selectively focus on the most valuable information to maximize memory utility. Most tests of value-based memory involve encoding and then being tested on a list of recently studied information. Thus, people are focused on memory for the current list and are encouraged to forget information from earlier lists. However, prior learning can influence later memory, in both interfering and beneficial ways, and there may be age-related differences in how younger and older adults are influenced by the costs and benefits of prior learning and interference. In the present study, we presented younger and older adults with words paired with point values to remember for a later test but rather than asking participants to only recall words from the juststudied list, participants were asked to recall all studied words on each recall test. Results revealed that younger adults were more likely to recall words from previous lists than older adults, indicating that older adults were more susceptible to retroactive interference. Moreover, although selectivity is often preserved in older adults when study-test cycles are independent, a buildup of proactive interference arising from previously studied words reduced memory selectivity in older adults. Thus, when presented with more information than one can remember, younger adults are better at combating interference and recalling valuable information, while older adults may engage in selective forgetting of prior lists to enhance a "present-focused" form of memory, possibly as a result of impaired inhibitory control. Public Significance StatementWhen presented with more information than one can remember, younger adults are better at combating interference and recalling valuable information, while older adults may engage in selective forgetting of previously learned information to enhance a "present-focused" form of memory.

“…Prior work has demonstrated that both younger and older adults used importance to guide the encoding and retrieval of information (Murphy & Castel, 2022a), but this had yet to be tested in an associative memory task (whereby older adults show profound deficits, e.g., Arenberg & Robertson-Tchabo, 1977; Naveh-Benjamin, 2000; Service & Craik, 1993). Additionally, prior work has shown little or no benefit of value in some standard associative learning tasks (Ariel et al, 2015).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Younger and older adults’ strategic use of associative memory and metacognitive control when learning foreign vocabulary words of varying importance.

Murphy¹,

Hargis²,

Castel³

2023

Self Cite

Older adults often face memory deficits in binding unrelated items. However, in situations such as preparing for foreign travel, a learner may be highly motivated to learn the translations of important words (e.g., “money”). In the present study, younger and older adults studied Swahili–English word pairs and judged the importance of knowing each pair if they were traveling to a foreign country. Generally, we expected older adults to display a memory deficit but for both younger and older adults’ memory to be driven by the subjective importance of the to-be-learned information. Both younger and older adults’ memory was related to their subjective importance ratings, suggesting that both age groups were able to engage in goal-based value-directed remembering. With increased task experience, older adults appeared to utilize a strategic approach in their study of the translations by spending more time studying the items relative to younger adults. Thus, despite associative memory deficits in older age, both younger and older adults can selectively remember subjectively important information such that older adults can effectively remember new vocabulary that is subjectively important and related to their future goals.