Poster Session 02 Program Schedule
02/15/2024
08:00 am - 09:15 am
Room: Shubert Complex (Posters 1-60)
Poster Session 02: Aging | MCI | Neurodegenerative Disease - PART 1
Final Abstract #16
Examining the Relationship Between Metamemory and Event Memory Performance Across Adulthood
Astrid Coleman, University of Windsor, Windsor, Canada
Kristoffer Romero, University of Windsor, Windsor, Canada
Category: Aging
Keyword 1: aging (normal)
Keyword 2: metamemory
Keyword 3: memory: normal
Objective:
Despite the central role of subjective cognitive complaints in diagnosing mild cognitive impairment, the relationship between metamemory abilities (the ability to subjectively monitor, interpret, and control different aspects of memory) and objective memory performance in older adulthood is not well understood. Previous research in older adults has primarily examined these associations using highly controlled laboratory-based memory tasks that may not fully capture the richness of mental representations individuals construct when remembering events in their daily lives. Gaining a better understanding of this relationship is clinically relevant as both subjective interpretations of cognitive functioning and performance on objective cognitive tasks contribute to the conceptualization of cognitive aging across the spectrum from healthy aging to dementia, informing diagnosis in different stages of cognitive decline (e.g., subjective cognitive decline; mild cognitive impairment). The objective of the current research is to gain insight into the ambiguous relationship between metamemory and memory performance among older and younger adults using a more ecologically valid event memory paradigm.
Participants and Methods:
A cognitively healthy sample of 25 younger (aged 18-24 years) and 14 older adults (aged 60-80 years) participated in the current study. In the event memory task, participants completed the encoding phase in which they watched 12 short video clips of everyday events. In the recall phase, participants were shown the title of each video and were asked to recall the events of the clip out loud in as much detail as possible. Participants rated their confidence in having accurately recalled the events of the related video (retrospective confidence judgements; RCJs) and rated the vividness of their mental imagery for each clip. Recall was scored using the Adapted Autobiographical Interview to determine the number of accurately recalled event memory details for each video. Additionally, participants completed two commonly used clinical measures of subjective cognitive functioning (i.e., Multifactorial Memory Questionnaire; Memory Complaint Scale).
Results:
When examining overall differences (i.e., absolute accuracy) between individuals’ RCJs and event memory performance, no age-effects were observed, but vividness ratings positively predicted absolute accuracy. In contrast, trial-by-trial correlations (i.e., relative accuracy) between metamemory ratings and event memory performance were higher among younger compared to older adults. In addition, ratings on clinical questionnaire measures did not significantly predict event memory performance in older or younger adults.
Conclusions:
Using a more ecologically valid event memory paradigm to assess the relationship between metamemory and memory performance, we found no age differences in overall metamemory accuracy, but stronger associations for trial-by-trial monitoring in younger adults. Moreover, no associations were observed between clinical questionnaire ratings and event memory performance in either age group. These findings demonstrate the impact of different measurement tools (overall monitoring vs. trial-by-trial monitoring vs. questionnaire ratings) on the relationship between metamemory and memory performance across adulthood. Vividness of mental imagery emerged as a potential factor that may underlie the association between metamemory monitoring and event memory performance. These findings and related future research developments may have important clinical implications in understanding the association between metamemory and memory performance at different stages of cognitive decline in older adulthood.
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