Prospective Memory in Older Adults : Where We Are Now and What Is Next

M. Kliegel acknowledges financial support from the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF).Peer reviewedPostprin

Explaining Age-Differences in Working Memory: The Role of Updating, Inhibition, and Shifting

Working memory (WM) represents the capacity to store and process a limited amount of information. Better understanding developmental changes of WM forms a key topic in research on neuropsychology of aging. Previous studies reveal age-differences in WM and in executive functions (EFs). Although EFs are seen as essential mechanisms in WM, the specific relation between the two cognitive constructs so far remains unclear. The present study set out to investigate the unique roles of the three main facets of EFs (i.e., updating, inhibition, and shifting) in accounting for age-related variability in WM. Therefore, one-hundred seventy-five younger and 107 older adults performed a battery of cognitive tests including measures of WM, EFs, and processing speed. A set of statistical approaches including regression analyses and path models was used to examine the cognitive correlates that could explain individual and age-related variance in WM. Significant age-differences were found on WM and on EF measures. Regression analyses and path models showed that updating and inhibition but not shifting played a major role in explaining age-related variance in WM. In sum, findings suggest that updating and inhibition are most influential for age-differences in WM. They further show that age and processing speed do not significantly contribute to variability in WM performance beyond executive resource. The present findings have implications for conceptual and developmental theories of WM and may further offer an initial empirical basis for developing possible trainings to improve older adults’ WM performance by strengthening the efficiency of updating and inhibitory processes

Spontaneous memory strategies in a videogame simulating everyday memory tasks

People can use different internal strategies to manage their daily tasks, but systematic research on these strategies and their significance for actual performance is still quite sparse. Here we examined self-reported internal strategy use with a 10-block version of the videogame EPELI (Executive Performance in Everyday LIving) in a group of 202 neurotypical adults of 18-50 years of age. In the game, participants perform lists of everyday tasks from memory while navigating in a virtual apartment. Open-ended strategy reports were collected after each EPELI task block, and for comparison also after an EPELI Instruction Recall task and a Word List Learning task assessing episodic memory. On average, 45% of the participants reported using some strategy in EPELI, the most common types being grouping (e.g., performing the tasks room by room), utilising a familiar action schema, and condensing information (e.g., memorising only keywords). Our pre-registered hypothesis on the beneficial effect of self-initiated strategy use gained support, as strategy users showed better performance on EPELI as compared with no strategy users. One of the strategies, grouping, was identified as a clearly effective strategy type. Block-by-block transitions suggested gradual stabilisation of strategy use over the 10 EPELI blocks. The proneness to use strategies showed a weak but reliable association between EPELI and Word List Learning. Overall, the present results highlight the importance of internal strategy use for understanding individual differences in memory performance, as well as the potential benefit for internal strategy employment when faced with everyday memory tasks

Quantifying ADHD Symptoms in Open-Ended Everyday Life Contexts With a New Virtual Reality Task

Objective: To quantify goal-directed behavior and ADHD symptoms in naturalistic conditions, we developed a virtual reality task, EPELI (Executive Performance in Everyday LIving), and tested its predictive, discriminant and concurrent validity. Method: We collected EPELI data, conventional neuropsychological task data, and parent-ratings of executive problems and symptoms in 38 ADHD children and 38 typically developing controls. Results: EPELI showed predictive validity as the ADHD group exhibited higher percentage of irrelevant actions reflecting lower attentional-executive efficacy and more controller movements and total game actions, both indicative of hyperactivity-impulsivity. Further, the five combined EPELI measures showed excellent discriminant validity (area under curve 88 %), while the correlations of the EPELI efficacy measure with parent-rated executive problems (r = .57) and ADHD symptoms (r = .55) pointed to its concurrent validity. Conclusion: We provide a proof-of-concept validation for a new virtual reality tool for ecologically valid assessment of ADHD symptoms.Peer reviewe

A novel approach to model cumulative stress:Area under the s-factor curve

OBJECTIVE: Using a large longitudinal sample of adults from the Midlife in the United States (MIDUS) study, the present study extended a recently developed hierarchical model to determine how best to model the accumulation of stressors, and to determine whether the rate of change in stressors or traditional composite scores of stressors are stronger predictors of health outcomes.METHOD: We used factor analysis to estimate a stress-factor score and then, to operationalize the accumulation of stressors we examined five approaches to aggregating information about repeated exposures to multiple stressors. The predictive validity of these approaches was then assessed in relation to different health outcomes.RESULTS: The prediction of chronic conditions, body mass index, difficulty with activities of daily living, executive function, and episodic memory later in life was strongest when the accumulation of stressors was modeled using total area under the curve (AUC) of estimated factor scores, compared to composite scores that have traditionally been used in studies of cumulative stress, as well as linear rates of change.CONCLUSIONS: Like endogenous, biological markers of stress reactivity, AUC for individual trajectories of self-reported stressors shows promise as a data reduction technique to model the accumulation of stressors in longitudinal studies. Overall, our results indicate that considering different quantitative models is critical to understanding the sequelae and predictive power of psychosocial stressors from midlife to late adulthood.</p

Quantifying ADHD Symptoms in Open-Ended Everyday Life Contexts With a New Virtual Reality Task

Objective: To quantify goal-directed behavior and ADHD symptoms in naturalistic conditions, we developed a virtual reality task, EPELI (Executive Performance in Everyday LIving), and tested its predictive, discriminant and concurrent validity. Method: We collected EPELI data, conventional neuropsychological task data, and parent-ratings of executive problems and symptoms in 38 ADHD children and 38 typically developing controls. Results: EPELI showed predictive validity as the ADHD group exhibited higher percentage of irrelevant actions reflecting lower attentional-executive efficacy and more controller movements and total game actions, both indicative of hyperactivity-impulsivity. Further, the five combined EPELI measures showed excellent discriminant validity (area under curve 88 %), while the correlations of the EPELI efficacy measure with parent-rated executive problems (r = .57) and ADHD symptoms (r = .55) pointed to its concurrent validity. Conclusion: We provide a proof-of-concept validation for a new virtual reality tool for ecologically valid assessment of ADHD symptoms.</p

The association of prospective memory and executive functions: a lifespan perspective

The current thesis project focuses on the development of prospective memory (PM) and its association to executive functions (EF) throughout the different stages of life. In detail, Study 1 examines the differential association between the three facets of EF (namely inhibition, shifting and updating) – and the three types of PM tasks (namely focal and nonfocal event-based PM, as well as time-based PM) in 115 six- to ten-year old children. Study 2 presents an individual difference perspective on focal and nonfocal PM in adults (20-68 years old), and illustrates their differential association with the three facets of EF. Study 3 shows that age-related stereotype threat might be an additional, non-cognitive factor that contributes to older adults' lower performance by specifically impairing executive resources. Finally, to synthesize presented findings, I suggest a new, task-specific model of how cognitive and non-cognitive factors contribute to different types of PM tasks

Procrastination et projection mentale dans le futur

La présente étude s'intéresse au lien entre la procrastination et la projection mentale dans le futur dans une perspective qui intègre différents facteurs associés à ces deux concepts (tels que la perspective temporelle, le niveau d'identification de l'action et les stratégies de régulation émotionnelle). Lors d'une tâche de projection mentale dans le futur, 103 participants ont dû imaginer des événements futurs spécifiques à partir de 5 mots (ami, famille, fête, travail et voyage). Nous avons mesuré différentes caractéristiques phénoménologiques de ces événements imaginés ainsi que la procrastination, la perspective temporelle, le niveau d'identification de l'action, et les stratégies de régulation émotionnelle des participants

Prospective Memory Development Across the Lifespan

Prospective Memory (PM; the ability to remember to perform planned tasks) represents a key proxy of healthy aging, as it relates to older adults’ everyday functioning, autonomy and personal well-being. The current review illustrates how PM performance develops across the lifespan and how multiple cognitive and non-cognitive factors influence this trajectory. Further, a new, integrative framework is presented, detailing how those processes interplay in retrieving and executing delayed intentions. Specifically, while most previous models have focused on memory processes, the present model focusses on the role of executive functioning in PM and its development across the lifespan. Finally, a practical outlook is presented, suggesting how the current knowledge can be applied in geriatrics and geropsychology to promote healthy aging by maintaining prospective abilities in the elderly

An individual difference perspective on focal versus nonfocal prospective memory

The present study targeted the question of whether focal versus nonfocal prospective memory (PM) can be distinguished on a construct level, and if so, to what extent individual differences in these two constructs are related to individual differences in facets of controlled attention and episodic memory. 315 individuals (aged 20–68 years) were administered focal and nonfocal PM tasks as well as indicators measuring updating, inhibition, shifting, and episodic memory. Latent variable modeling revealed that focal and nonfocal PM were two distinguishable but related constructs. Furthermore, analyses showed that focal PM was more strongly related to inhibition, while nonfocal PM was more strongly related to shifting. Present data support the conceptual hypothesis that focal and nonfocal PM should be conceptualized as two distinguishable but related constructs. Moreover, they suggest that both have some but distinct associations to controlled attention