Individual differences in learning and forgetting in old age: the role of basic cognitive abilities and subjective organization

Abstract

Basic cognitive abilities and subjective organization have been suggested to account for age-related differences in episodic memory. These relations between basic cognitive abilities, subjective organization, and episodic memory have been mainly examined in cross-sectional studies and, thus, do not allow any conclusion regarding relations within the individual. In order to investigate mechanisms of cognitive aging, the present thesis extended this body of research by examining whether the suggested relations also exist at the individual level. Four studies addressed the research question of whether there are individual differences in learning and forgetting in old age and whether subjective organization and basic cognitive abilities predict individual differences therein. In order to take into account general variables known to influence learning and forgetting, the four studies measured learning and forgetting by different designs. The present thesis presents and discusses three studies on learning (Study 1, Study 2, and Study 3). Study 1 used a fixed-trial free recall verbal learning task in a laboratory, whereas Study 2 investigated task-specific paired-associate learning in a naturalistic context. Study 3 investigated criterion-based dropout learning and included a measurement of retention. Finally, Study 4 analyzed forgetting of learned material within a fixed-trial learning design. Overall, the results indicated that there are reliable individual differences in learning and forgetting in old age and that basic cognitive abilities and subjective organization predict these and thus represent relevant explanatory variables of cognitive aging. Moreover, the results of this thesis imply possibilities of optimizing episodic memory in old age by taking into account life-span approaches of developmental psychology. [ANMERKUNG]: Weitere Veröffentlichungen In: European Journal of Ageing, Online First, 2013 [UND] Aging, Neuropsychology, and Cognition, 20, 2013