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Scholarly Works (8 results)

  • Article
  • Peer Reviewed
UCLA Previously Published Works (2017)
Background/Study Context: Although explicit memory abilities decline during older adulthood, there is evidence that suggests that metacognitive capabilities are relatively well preserved. However, it is unclear what effect aging, consequences of forgetting, prior knowledge, and task experience have on the strategic control and use of one's metacognitive capabilities.

Methods

In the current study, older and younger adults were presented with six unique lists of words (Experiment 1), related and unrelated word pairs (Experiment 2), or items within specific scenarios (e.g., items to bring on a picnic; Experiment 3). For each item, participants assigned it a point value (from 0 to 10) that was akin to "betting" on the likelihood the item would be remembered. If the item was recalled (free recall in Experiments 1 and 3, cued recall in Experiment 2), participants received the points they had assigned to it, but if the item was forgotten they lost those points. Participants were told to maximize their point score and were told their score at the end of each list.

Results

Although younger adults remembered more words in Experiment 1, older and younger adults were equally able to remember items assigned higher values, and accuracy of predictions and point scores increased with task experience. In Experiments 2 and 3, when participants were able to rely on semantic knowledge, age-related differences in memory performance were eliminated.

Conclusion

The results suggest that both younger and older adults achieve accurate metacognitive insight and are able to use this knowledge strategically in order to maximize goal-related memory outcomes and performance.
    Cover page: OLDER AND YOUNGER ADULTS’ STRATEGIC CONTROL OF METACOGNITIVE MONITORING: THE ROLE OF CONSEQUENCES, TASK EXPERIENCE, AND PRIOR KNOWLEDGE
    • Thesis
    • Peer Reviewed
    UCLA Electronic Theses and Dissertations (2013)

    It is well documented that memory abilities decline in older adulthood. However, age-related memory deficits may be reduced for information that is more interesting or valuable. Using a variety of unique approaches, the current studies examined whether subjective value and interest impacted memory and metacognitive judgments (i.e., predictions about what one will remember) in older and younger adults in order to better understand mechanisms that enhance memory and metacognitive accuracy.

    Experiments 1, 2, and 3 utilized a paradigm in which older and younger adults were presented with lists of words, word pairs, or items within specific scenarios. For each item, participants assigned it a value (from 0-10) that was akin to a "bet" on the likelihood it would be remembered. The results indicated that older and younger adults were equally able to remember items assigned higher values, and that accuracy of predictions increased with task experience. Furthermore, when participants were able to rely on semantic knowledge, age-related differences in memory performance were eliminated.

    Experiments 4 and 5 examined whether subjective interest and curiosity to learn influenced memory and metacognitive predictions in older and younger adults. In Experiments 4 and 5, participants were presented with trivia questions and asked to indicate how "curious" they were to learn the answer, after which they were shown the correct answer. In Experiment 5 participants also provided post-answer interest ratings and predictions of the likelihood the fact would be remembered. After a week delay, older and younger adults were more likely to recall answers to questions initially assigned higher ratings of curiosity and interest. Furthermore, predictions regarding what information would be recalled were highly accurate for both younger and older adults, and were influenced by interest in the material.

    The results of all of the studies suggest that the ability to recall what one subjectively indicates is more valuable or interesting does not decline during the aging process. Furthermore, both younger and older adults displayed highly accurate insight regarding what information was likely to be remembered or forgotten, and they were able to use this knowledge to strategically maximize goal-related memory outcomes and performance.

      Cover page: The Influence of Subjective Value, Importance, and Interest on Memory and Metacognition in Older and Younger Adults
      • Article
      • Peer Reviewed
      UCLA Previously Published Works (2015)
      Given age-related memory impairments, one's level of curiosity or interest could enhance memory for certain information. In the current study, younger and older adults read trivia questions, rated how curious they were to learn each answer, provided confidence and interest ratings, and judgments of learning after learning the answer. No age-related differences in memory were found. Analyses indicated that curiosity and interest contributed to the formation of judgments of learning. Additionally, interest had a unique increasing relationship with older, but not younger, adults' memory performance after a one-week delay. The results suggest that subjective interest may serve to enhance older adults' memory.
        Cover page: Thirst for Knowledge: The Effects of Curiosity and Interest on Memory in Younger and Older Adults
        • Article
        • Peer Reviewed
        UCLA Previously Published Works (2013)
        Older adults typically display various associative memory deficits, but these deficits can be reduced when conditions allow for the use of prior knowledge or schematic support. To determine how era-specific schematic support and future simulation might influence associative memory, we examined how younger and older adults remember prices from the past as well as the future. Younger and older adults were asked to imagine the past or future, and then studied items and prices from approximately 40 years ago (market value prices from the 1970s) or 40 years in the future. In Experiment 1, all items were common items (e.g., movie ticket, coffee) and the associated prices reflected the era in question, whereas in Experiment 2, some item-price pairs were specific to the time period (e.g., typewriter, robot maid), to test different degrees of schematic support. After studying the pairs, participants were shown each item and asked to recall the associated price. In both experiments, older adults showed similar performance as younger adults in the past condition for the common items, whereas age-related differences were greater in the future condition and for the era-specific items. The findings suggest that in order for schematic support to be effective, recent (and not simply remote) experience is needed in order to enhance memory. Thus, whereas older adults can benefit from "turning back the clock," younger adults better remember future-oriented information compared with older adults, outlining age-related similarities and differences in associative memory and the efficient use of past and future-based schematic support.
          Cover page: Back to the Future: Past and Future Era-Based Schematic Support and Associative Memory for Prices in Younger and Older Adults
          • Article
          • Peer Reviewed
          UCLA Previously Published Works (2015)
          Older adults often experience memory impairments, but sometimes they can use selective processing and schematic support to remember important information. In the present experiments, we investigated the degrees to which younger and healthy older adults remembered medication side effects that were subjectively or objectively important to remember. Participants studied a list of common side effects and rated how negative these effects would be if they were to experience them, and they were then given a free recall test. In Experiment 1, the severity of the side effects ranged from mild (e.g., itching) to severe (e.g., stroke), and in Experiment 2, certain side effects were indicated as being critical to remember (i.e., "contact your doctor if you experience this"). We observed no age differences in terms of free recall of the side effects, and older adults remembered more severe side effects than mild effects. However, older adults were less likely to recognize the critical side effects on a later recognition test, relative to younger adults. These findings suggest that older adults can selectively remember medication side effects but have difficulty identifying familiar but potentially critical side effects, and this has implications for monitoring medication use in older age.
            Cover page: Memory for medication side effects in younger and older adults: The role of subjective and objective importance
            • Article
            • Peer Reviewed
            UCLA Previously Published Works (2016)

            Objectives

            While older adults often display memory deficits, with practice, they can sometimes selectively remember valuable information at the expense of less value information. We examined age-related differences and similarities in memory for health-related information under conditions where some information was critical to remember.

            Method

            In Experiment 1, participants studied 3 lists of allergens, ranging in severity from 0 (not a health risk) to 10 (potentially fatal), with the instruction that it was particularly important to remember items to which a fictional relative was most severely allergic. After each list, participants received feedback regarding their recall of the high-value allergens. Experiment 2 examined memory for health benefits, presenting foods that were potentially beneficial to the relative's immune system.

            Results

            While younger adults exhibited better overall memory for the allergens, both age groups in Experiment 1 developed improved selectivity across the lists, with no evident age differences in severe allergen recall by List 2. Selectivity also developed in Experiment 2, although age differences for items of high health benefit were present.

            Discussion

            The results have implications for models of selective memory in older age, and for how aging influences the ability to strategically remember important information within health-related contexts.
              Cover page: Memory for Allergies and Health Foods: How Younger and Older Adults Strategically Remember Critical Health Information
              • Article
              • Peer Reviewed
              UCLA Previously Published Works (2017)
              Ageing typically leads to various memory deficits which results in older adults' tendency to remember more general information and rely on gist memory. The current study examined if younger and older adults could remember which of two comparable grocery items (e.g., two similar but different jams) was paired with a lower price (the "better buy"). Participants studied lists of grocery items and their prices, in which the two items in each category were presented consecutively (Experiment 1), or separated by intervening items (Experiment 2). At test, participants were asked to identify the "better buy" and recall the price of both items. There were negligible age-related differences for the "better buy" in Experiment 1, but age-related differences were present in Experiment 2 when there were greater memory demands involved in comparing the two items. Together, these findings suggest that when price information of two items can be evaluated and compared within a short period of time, older adults can form stable gist-based memory for prices, but that this is impaired with longer delays. We relate the findings to age-related changes in the use of gist and verbatim memory when remembering prices, as well as the associative deficit account of cognitive ageing.
                Cover page: Gist-based memory for prices and “better buys” in younger and older adults
                • Article
                • Peer Reviewed
                UCLA Previously Published Works (2016)
                Older adults often experience associative memory impairments but can sometimes remember important information. The current experiments investigate potential age-related similarities and differences associate memory for gains and losses. Younger and older participants were presented with faces and associated dollar amounts, which indicated how much money the person "owed" the participant, and were later given a cued recall test for the dollar amount. Experiment 1 examined face-dollar amount pairs while Experiment 2 included negative dollar amounts to examine both gains and losses. While younger adults recalled more information relative to older adults, both groups were more accurate in recalling the correct value associated with high-value faces compared to lower-value faces and remembered gist-information about the values. However, negative values (losses) did not have a strong impact on recall among older adults versus younger adults, illustrating important associative memory differences between younger and older adults.
                  Cover page: I owe you: age-related similarities and differences in associative memory for gains and losses
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