Age Deficits in Associative Memory are not Alleviated by Multisensory Paradigms

ObjectivesAge deficits in memory are widespread, this impacts individuals at a personal level, and investigating memory has been a key focus in cognitive ageing research. Age deficits occur in memory for an episode, where information from the environment is integrated through the senses into an episodic event via associative memory. Associating items in memory has been shown to be particularly difficult for older adults but can often be alleviated by providing support from the external environment. The current investigation explored the potential for increased sensory input (multimodal stimuli) to alleviate age deficits in associative memory. Here, we present compelling evidence, supported by Bayesian analysis, for a null age-by-modality interaction.MethodsAcross three pre-registered studies, young and older adults (n = 860) completed associative memory tasks either in single modalities or in multimodal formats. Study 1 used either visual text (unimodal) or video introductions (multimodal) to test memory for name-face associations. Studies 2 and 3 tested memory for paired associates. Study 2 used unimodal visual presentation or cross modal visual-auditory word pairs in a cued recall paradigm. Study 3 presented word pairs as visual only, auditory only or audiovisual and tested memory separately for items (individual words) or associations (word pairings).ResultsTypical age deficits in associative memory emerged, but these were not alleviated by multimodal presentation.DiscussionThe lack of multimodal support for associative memory indicates that perceptual manipulations are less effective than other forms of environmental support at alleviating age deficits in associative memory

KAPAO First Light: the design, construction and operation of a low-cost natural guide star adaptive optics system

We present the instrument design and first light observations of KAPAO, a natural guide star adaptive optics (AO) system for the Pomona College Table Mountain Observatory (TMO) 1-meter telescope. The KAPAO system has dual science channels with visible and near-infrared cameras, a Shack-Hartmann wavefront sensor, and a commercially available 140-actuator MEMS deformable mirror. The pupil relays are two pairs of custom off-axis parabolas and the control system is based on a version of the Robo-AO control software. The AO system and telescope are remotely operable, and KAPAO is designed to share the Cassegrain focus with the existing TMO polarimeter. We discuss the extensive integration of undergraduate students in the program including the multiple senior theses/capstones and summer assistantships amongst our partner institutions. This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 0960343