Directed forgetting of source memory in normal aging and Alzheimer's disease

Using the source directed forgetting method, the present paper investigated whether older adults and Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients were able to inhibit source information.

Younger adults, older adults and AD participants were presented with two sets of six items each: Set1 and Set2. Each item was presented by one of two sources: an experimenter black- or white-gloved hand. After the presentation of the Set1 items, participants were instructed either to forget or to continue remembering the source of the items. Afterward, all participants were presented with the Set2 items, and were asked to remember their source. Finally, subjects were exposed to the Set1 and Set2 items, and were asked to recall, for each item, its original source presentation (i.e., the experimenter black- or white-gloved hand).

In comparison with younger adults, older adults and AD participants showed no differences in remembering the source of the Set1 and Set2 items. In other words, they failed to inhibit the source information.

Our outcomes are discussed in terms of retrieval inhibition deficits and changes in adaptive nature of memory in normal aging and AD.