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Age differences in prospective memory for everyday life intentions: A diary approach
Katharina M Schnitzspahn1, Urte Scholz2, Nicola Ballhausen1
1a Faculté de psychologie et des sciences de l'éducation , Université de Genève , Genève , Switzerland.
Memory (Hove, England)
|March 10, 2015
Summary
Older adults show improved real-life prospective memory (PM) performance, especially for health and social intentions. Cognitive function impacts younger adults
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Neuroscience of Aging
Background:
- Naturalistic prospective memory (PM) tasks suggest aging may not impair real-life memory.
- Empirical confirmation of age-related differences in everyday PM performance is lacking.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate age-related differences in the content and performance of everyday prospective memory intentions.
- To explore how cognitive functioning relates to prospective memory performance across different age groups.
Main Methods:
- Employed a diary approach to assess everyday prospective memory in young and older adults.
- Analyzed intention content, performance success rates, and relationships with cognitive functions.
Main Results:
- A general age benefit in real-life prospective memory tasks was confirmed.
- This benefit was specific to certain intention types, notably health and social intentions.
- Cognitive functions like inhibition and memory significantly predicted PM performance in young adults, but not in older adults.
Conclusions:
- The age benefit observed in experimental PM tasks extends to real-life scenarios, contingent on intention type.
- Cognitive predictors of prospective memory differ between young and older adults, highlighting distinct age-related cognitive profiles.
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