No Evidence for Improved Associative Memory Performance Following Process Based Associative Memory Training in Older Adults
Studies attempting to improve episodic memory performance with strategy instructions and training have had limited success in older adults: their training gains are limited in comparison to those of younger adults and do not generalize to untrained tasks and contexts. This limited success has been partly attributed to age related impairments in associative binding of information into coherent episodes. We therefore investigated potential training and transfer effects of process based associative memory training (i.e. repeated practice) Thirty nine older adults (Mage 68.8) underwent 6 weeks of either adaptive associative memory training or item recognition training. Both groups improved performance in item memory, spatial memory (object context binding) and reasoning. A disproportionate effect of associative memory training was only observed for item memory, whereas no training related performance changes were observed for associative memory. Self reported strategies showed no signs of spontaneous development of memory enhancing associative memory strategies. Hence, the results do not support the hypothesis that process based associative memory training leads to higher associative memory performance in older adults.
Frontiers in aging neuroscience