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Destination memory impairment in older people
Nigel Gopie1, Fergus I M Craik, Lynn Hasher
1Rotman Research Institute, Baycrest and University of Toronto, 3560 Bathurst Street, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. nigel.gopie@utoronto.ca
Psychology and Aging
|August 20, 2010
Summary
Older adults exhibit significant deficits in destination memory, struggling to recall who received information. This age-related memory decline is linked to confidence errors, impacting communication effectiveness.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Neuroscience
- Human Development
Background:
- Anecdotal evidence suggests older adults have poor destination memory, leading to repeated stories.
- Destination memory involves recalling to whom specific information was conveyed.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate age-related differences in destination memory.
- To compare destination memory with source memory in older and younger adults.
- To examine the role of memory confidence in age-related destination memory deficits.
Main Methods:
- Experiment 1: Assessed destination memory in young and older adults by having them tell facts to famous faces.
- Experiment 2: Reversed the information flow to assess source memory.
- Surprise recognition memory tests with confidence ratings were employed.
Main Results:
- Older adults showed disproportionately impaired destination memory compared to younger adults.
- Older adults exhibited increased confidence in false negatives (misses) in destination memory tasks.
- Age-related memory differences vanished in the source memory task, with older adults showing false alarms.
Conclusions:
- Destination memory, unlike source memory, is significantly affected by aging.
- Confidence judgments, particularly false alarms and misses, play a crucial role in age-related destination memory impairments.
- These findings highlight the impact of destination memory deficits on communication in older adults.
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