Developmental Differences in Associative Memory: Strategy Use, Mental Effort, and Knowledge Access Interactions

ABSTRACTBackground/Study Context: Older adults show lower memory performance than younger adults when a task requires them to create associations (Naveh-Benjamin, 2000, Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 26, 1170–1187). In this study, associative memory was examined in order to assess whether age differences in performance were mitigated when the word pairs to be learned utilized a familiar pattern seen in everyday language (adjective-noun), which we propose as a type of schematic support that capitalizes upon linguistic structure.Methods: Thirty older (66–87 years old) and younger (18–22 years old) adults from the University of Missouri and the surrounding community studied word pairs in noun-noun, adjective-noun, and noun-adjective sequences. A mixed-measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to analyze differences in memory sensitivity (d’) and response bias (C) from separate item and associative recognition memory tests between age groups and between word pair sequences.Results: As expected, older participants did show lower associative memory for noun-noun and noun-adjective pairs than younger adults, a hallmark of an age-related associative binding deficit, but there were no age differences in associative memory for adjective-noun pairs. The latter supports our hypothesis that seeing word pairs in a familiar adjective-noun linguistic sequence can provide support in older adults’ associative processing to mitigate difficulties experienced when binding together word pairs.Conclusion: The results obtained show that older adults can use prior existing knowledge to attenuate their cognitive shortcomings, specifically linguistic structural knowledge, to mitigate their associative binding deficit. Further research is necessary to determine the exact mechanism of improvement mediated by this form of schematic support, namely, whether it results in more effective recruitment of strategic processes such as unitization.

Human aging is characterized by reductions in the ability to remember associations between items, despite intact memory for single items. Older adults also show less selectivity in task-related brain activity, such that patterns of activation become less distinct across multiple experimental tasks. This reduced selectivity or dedifferentiation has been found for episodic memory, which is often reduced in older adults, but not for semantic memory, which is maintained with age. We used fMRI to investigate whether there is a specific reduction in selectivity of brain activity during associative encoding in older adults, but not during item encoding, and whether this reduction predicts associative memory performance. Healthy young and older adults were scanned while performing an incidental encoding task for pictures of objects and houses under item or associative instructions. An old/new recognition test was administered outside the scanner. We used agnostic canonical variates analysis and split-half resampling to detect whole-brain patterns of activation that predicted item versus associative encoding for stimuli that were later correctly recognized. Older adults had poorer memory for associations than did younger adults, whereas item memory was comparable across groups. Associative encoding trials, but not item encoding trials, were predicted less successfully in older compared with young adults, indicating less distinct patterns of associative-related activity in the older group. Importantly, higher probability of predicting associative encoding trials was related to better associative memory after accounting for age and performance on a battery of neuropsychological tests. These results provide evidence that neural distinctiveness at encoding supports associative memory and that a specific reduction of selectivity in neural recruitment underlies age differences in associative memory.

Can the elderly take the action? – The influence of unitization induced by action relationships on the associative memory deficit

From the perspective of memory-as-discrimination, whether a cue leads to correct retrieval simultaneously depends on the cue’s relationship to (a) the memory target and (b) the other retrieval candidates. A corollary of the view is that increasing encoding-retrieval match may only help memory if it improves the cue’s capacity to discriminate the target from competitors. Here, age differences in this discrimination process were assessed by manipulating the overlap between cues present at encoding and retrieval orthogonally with cue–target distinctiveness. In Experiment 1, associative memory differences for cue–target sets between young and older adults were minimized through training and retrieval efficiency was assessed through response time. In Experiment 2, age-group differences in associative memory were left to vary and retrieval efficiency was assessed through accuracy. Both experiments showed age-invariance in memory-as-discrimination: cues increasing encoding-retrieval match did not benefit memory unless they also improved discrimination between the target and competitors. Predictions based on the age-related associative deficit were also supported: prior knowledge alleviated age-related associative deficits (Experiment 1), and increasing encoding-retrieval match benefited older more than young adults (Experiment 2). We suggest that the latter occurred because older adults’ associative memory deficits reduced the impact of competing retrieval candidates—hence the age-related benefit was not attributable to encoding-retrieval match per se, but rather it was a joint function of an increased probability of the cue connecting to the target combined with a decrease in competing retrieval candidates.

Memory deficits in aging are characterized by impaired hippocampus-mediated relational binding-the formation of links between items in memory. By reducing reliance on relational binding, unitization of two items into one concept enhances associative recognition among older adults. Can a similar enhancement be obtained when probing memory with recall? This question has yet to be examined, because recall has been assumed to rely predominantly on relational binding. Inspired by recent evidence challenging this assumption, we investigated individual differences in older adults' recall of unitized and nonunitized associations. Compared with successfully aging individuals, older adults with mild memory deficits, typically mediated by the hippocampus, were impaired in recall of paired-associates in a task which relies on relational binding (study: "PLAY-TUNNEL"; test: PLAY-T?). In stark contrast, the two groups showed similar performance when items were unitized into a novel compound word (study: "LOVEGIGGLE"; test: LOVEG?). Thus, boosting nonrelational aspects of recall enhances associative memory among aging individuals with subtle memory impairments to comparable levels as successfully aging older adults.

Data from three studies involving a continuous paired associates task performed by adults of different ages were analyzed in an attempt to identify how processing speed might mediate age-related differences in associative memory. Age differences were found in measures postulated to represent encoding and consolidation processes, but not in a measure presumed to reflect rate of forgetting. It is suggested that increased age is associated with a reduction in the speed of executing processes concerned with establishing a stable internal representation, but not with an alteration in the rate at which encoded information is lost as a function of time or subsequent processing.

Associative memory deteriorates with age. One possible reason for this associative memory deficit in older adults is a decline in inhibitory function. However, it remains unclear what role of inhibitory function plays in age-related associative memory deficits, and whether and how acute training of inhibitory function could ameliorate the detrimental effects of inhibitory deficits on associative memory in older adults. In Experiment 1, 80 participants (40 younger and 40 older adults) studied scene-word pairs while attempting to inhibit interfering words during encoding, with two conditions: gist and non-gist interferences. In Experiment 2, 66 older adults were randomly assigned to either acute inhibitory training or a control group, and eye-tracking technology was used to capture the benefits of acute inhibitory training. Results showed that older adults were more disturbed by gist than non-gist interferences because of hyper-binding, and that inhibitory function mediated the relationship between age and associative memory accuracy. Notably, although acute inhibitory training did not significantly improve associative memory accuracy in the training group compared to the control group, structural equation model showed that older adults in the acute training group showed shorter fixation durations and lower frequencies in the interference region of interest, leading to better associative memory. These results indicate that inhibitory function plays a mediating role in age-related associative memory decline, as well as its plasticity in this association. It provides a potential pathway to improve associative memory in older adults.Supplementary InformationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s41235-025-00688-5.

Amnesticmildcognitiveimpairment(aMCI)patientsshowimpairmentinbothitemandassociativememory.Thecurrent studyadministeredthewidelyusedassociativeanditemmemorytestsfromtheClinicalMemoryScaletoinvestigatewhetheraMCI patientsaremoreimpairedinassociativememorythanitemmemory.Inaddition,weaimedtoanalyzeanassociativememorytest(the paired-associatelearningtest)inordertoinvestigateindetailthenatureofassociativememoryimpairmentinaMCIpatients.Twenty-fiveindividualswithaMCIand28healthycontrolstookpartinthestudy.Twoassociativememorytests(paired-associate learningtestandassociativerecall),twoitemmemorytests(freerecallofpicturesandrecognitionofmeaninglessfigures),andasetof neurocognitivetestswereadministeredtotheparticipants.aMCIpatientsperformedsignificantlyworsethanhealthyolderadultsinbothassociativememorytests,evenwhencontrollingforimpairmentintheitemmemorytests.

IntroductionThe finding that familiarity can support associative memory by unitizing the to -be-learned items into a novel representation has been widely accepted, but its effects on overall performance of associative memory and recollection are still controversial.MethodsThe current study aims to elucidate these discrepancies by identifying potential moderating factors through a combined approach of meta-analysis and behavioral experiment.ResultsResults consistently showed that changes in the level of unitization and age groups were two important moderators. Specifically, unitization enhanced younger and older adults’ associative memory and its supporting processes (i.e., familiarity and recollection) when the level of unitization between studied and rearranged pairs was changed. However, when this level remained constant, unitization exhibited no impact on associative memory and familiarity in younger adults, but showed an enhanced effect in older adults. Furthermore, results revealed a marked group difference between younger and older adults in associative memory when the unitization level of noncompound words remained unaltered. Upon breaking this condition, the group difference was reduced by enhancing familiarity or recollection.DiscussionThese findings not only clarify some of the inconsistencies in the literature concerning the impact of unitization on associative memory, but also suggest that unitization is a beneficial strategy for reducing group difference in associative memory, with its effectiveness varying according to the level of unitization changes.

<p>The associative memory deficits observed in healthy older adults have been demonstrated to be at least partially driven by age-related declines in recollection-based memory processes (Old & Naveh-Benjamin, 2008). Parks and Yonelinas (2015) suggested that unitization – a memory strategy that synthesizes two previously unrelated objects into a new single entity which represents characteristics of both – could improve young adults’ associative memory performance by promoting familiarity-based, but not recollection-based, memory processes. This dissertation aimed to examine whether this unitization strategy could promote familiarity in older adults and subsequently improve their associative memory performance. Experiment 1 was a pilot study in which twenty young (aged 18-23) and 20 older adults (aged 65-89) were instructed to self-generate unitization mnemonics (compound definition, i.e., a definition for the compound that unitizes the two words) and a non-unitization strategy (sentence frame, i.e., a sentence that connects the two words). Results showed that although older adults took longer than their younger counterparts, they were better at generating mnemonics following both types of strategy instruction. In Experiment 2, thirty-six young and 36 older adults completed an associative memory task. During encoding, they studied word pairs, each with a sentence frame or a compound definition mnemonic as generated in Experiment 1. Then their memory for items as well as for pairs was assessed using a remember/know/new paradigm. Results indicated that for both age groups, familiarity increased in the unitization relative to the non-unitization condition. However, the increase in familiarity did not help older adults improve their associative memory in the same way as observed in the young adult group within the same experiment. Experiment 3 adopted an intentional encoding paradigm and a within-subject design. Thirty-two older adults studied word pairs using both sentence frame and compound definition strategy in two random-ordered blocks. Replicating Experiment 2, the unitization strategy boosted the level of familiarity-based retrieval but did not lead to better associative memory performance in older adults. Taken together, the results of this dissertation suggest that although unitization increased familiarity for older adults, it did not mitigate their associative memory deficits more effectively than a non-unitization strategy.</p>

According to the associative deficit hypothesis, older adults experience greater difficulty in remembering associations between pieces of information (associative memory) than young adults, despite their relatively intact memory for individual items (item memory). Recent research suggests that this deficit might be related to older adults’ reduced availability of attentional resources – the reservoir of mental energy needed for the operations of cognition functions. The purpose of this Dissertation was to examine the role of attentional resources in associative deficit, and to explore encoding manipulations that might alleviate the deficit in older adults. In Study 1, young adults’ attentional resources during encoding of word pairs were depleted using a divided attention task. These participants showed an associative deficit commonly observed in older adults, and were less likely to use effective encoding strategies and recollection-based processes to support their memory in comparison to young adults under full attention. The resemblance in memory performance between young adults under divided attention and older adults suggests that lack of attentional resources might be a contributing factor in older adults’ associative deficit. In Study 2, participants’ resource load during encoding was reduced by learning individual items and their associations sequentially in two phases. Older adults in this condition showed equivalent memory performance to young adults, and were more likely to use effective encoding strategies and recollection-based processes than older adults in Study 1 who studied items and associations simultaneously. Finally, Study 3 employed a value-directed learning paradigm, in which participants studied high- and low-value word pairs. Older adults showed similar memory performance for both high- and low-value word pairs as young adults, without any signs of associative deficit. Assigning value to associative information might prompt older adults to prioritize associative encoding over item encoding, which benefits their associative memory. Taken together, these results suggest that depletion of attentional resources during encoding could impair associative memory. Furthermore, older adults’ associative deficit could be effectively alleviated with sufficient environmental support during encoding, such as when resource competition between item and associative encoding is minimized (Study 2) or when being guided to prioritize encoding of associations over items (Study 3).

Introduction The Face Name Associative Memory Exam (FNAME) is sensitive to associative memory changes early in the Alzheimer’s disease spectrum, but little is known about how healthy aging affects FNAME performance. We aimed to assess aging effects on an extended version of the test, which captures further associative memory abilities beyond the recall and recognition domains measured in the original version. Method We adapted FNAME versions in Spain and Mexico, adding new subtests (Spontaneous Name Recall, Face-Name Matching). We compared the performance of 21 young adults (YA) and 27 older adults (OA) in Spain, and 34 YA and 36 OA in Mexico. Recall was analyzed using a mixed-model ANOVA including subtest scores as dependent variables, age group as a fixed-factor independent variable, and recall subtest as a three-level repeated-measure independent variable. The rest of the associative memory domains were analyzed through t-tests comparing the performance of YA and OA. Results In Spain, we found significant effects for age group and recall subtest, with large effect sizes. The recognition subtests (Face Recognition, Name Recognition) displayed ceiling effects in both groups. The new subtests displayed medium-to-large effect sizes when comparing age groups. In Mexico, these results were replicated, additionally controlling for education. In both studies, recall performance improved after repeated exposures and it was sustained after 30 minutes in YA and OA. Conclusions We document, in two different countries, a clear aging pattern on the extended FNAME: regardless of education, OA remember fewer stimuli than YA through recall subtests. The new subtests provide evidence on associative memory changes in aging beyond recall.

A visual stimulus change detection is an extremely important pilot's cognitive process. This is especially true when pilot errors caused by perceptual failures have a negative effect on his/her spatial orientation. The aim of this research was to investigate the effect of the change detection flicker task (CDFT) on pilots' response to spatial disorientation (SD) events. We hypothesized that the additional cognitive processing, based on CDFT, produces more deterioration of the pilots' spatial orientation. Using an SD flight simulator, 50 male military pilots (M = 27.2; SD = 6.68) were exposed to 12 flight sequences. Of the 12 flight profiles, 6 involved an SD conflict, with 3 involving motion illusions and 3 with visual illusions. We measured and compared pilots' flight performance in response to visual and motion illusion conflicts across two simulations (CDFT vs. control) and SD conditions (nonconflict vs. conflict). Of the six applied illusions, significant differences in pilot flight performance were found for three visual and one vestibular illusion (Coriolis). The differences were observed between control and CDFT groups for both nonconflict and conflict flight sequences, associated with the approach and landing maneuvers. The CDFT increased the pilots' cognitive workload, affecting their flight performance and susceptibility to SD, especially in the approach and landing maneuvers. This partially supports our hypothesis that performing the CDFT leads to greater deterioration of pilots' spatial orientation. We recommend that when problems in maintaining proper flight performance arise, pilots should not respond to external stimuli until they have recovered their spatial orientation.Lewkowicz R, Fudali-Czyż A, Bałaj B, Francuz P. Change detection flicker task effects on simulator-induced spatial disorientation events. Aerosp Med Hum Perform. 2018; 89(10):863-872.

Forgetting people's names is a common memory complaint among older adults and one that is consistent with experimental evidence of age-related decline in memory for face-name associations. Despite this difficulty intentionally forming face-name associations, a recent study demonstrated that older adults hyperbind distracting names and attended faces, which produces better learning of these face-name pairs when they reappear on a memory test (Weeks, Biss, Murphy, & Hasher, 2016). The current study explored whether this effect could be leveraged as an intervention to reduce older adults' forgetting of face-name associations, using a method previously shown to improve older adults' retention of a word list (Biss, Ngo, Hasher, Campbell, & Rowe, 2013). Twenty-five younger and 32 older adults studied 24 face-name pairs and were tested via immediate and delayed memory tests. During the 30-min retention interval, 10 of the face-name pairs reoccurred as distraction in an ostensibly unrelated face-judgment task, providing an opportunity to implicitly rehearse these pairs. Older adults showed reduced forgetting of repeated face-name pairs as well as improved recollection. Younger adults showed no reliable benefit. These findings indicate that useful distraction benefits older adults' memory for face-name associations, suggesting its potential utility as a memory intervention technique. (PsycINFO Database Record

This study focuses on a particular type of knowledge which is referred to throughout as tacit knowledge and has been identified as a personal form of knowledge, which plays a key role in the practice and professional development of teachers. In the context of initial teacher education tacit knowledge is important to consider as what student teachers are learning and how they are learning it is of current, pressing concern to initial teacher education in England. The role of and access to tacit knowledge in student teacher learning were investigated using a case study approach employing stimulated recall interviews wherein mentors were asked to reflect upon their teaching and explain their teaching actions. Stimulated recall interviews involved student teachers taking on the role of interviewer. Thematic analysis of data revealed that student teachers probed key teaching episodes and encouraged mentors to reveal complex decision making which may otherwise have remained undisclosed. Main findings show that both student teachers and experienced teachers see tacit knowledge as useful in the learning to teach process. Interviews reveal that observable teaching actions had complex underlying reasoning and this was elicited via objective-led dialogue between student teacher and mentor, post-teaching. Student teachers were able to independently select teaching events to examine further, and were able to understand their mentor’s actions and judgements more deeply as a result of stimulated recall interviewing. The implications arising out of this study include a need for change to observation and debriefing practices in school, with student teachers and mentors becoming more aware of the value and purpose of tacit knowledge. The benefits of student teachers being instrumental in initiating and asking questions which can elicit experienced teachers’ tacit knowledge are clear; and findings show the potential for student teachers to become more pivotal in their own learning. Where stimulated recall interviews were used mentors were encouraged to reveal embedded reasoning underpinning their classroom practice.