Associative memory in older adults: Making sense of associative memory deficits and hyperbinding effects

Aging is generally associated with differences in associative memory, which is memory for relationships between arbitrary pieces of information. There are two predominant explanations for age-related declines in associative memory: (a) the associative deficit hypothesis, which posits that older adults decline in their ability to form and retrieve associations, and (b) the inhibitory deficit hypothesis, which suggests that older adults bind more information together than intended-that is, they form and then struggle to ignore too many irrelevant associations, rather than bind too few appropriate associations. We sought to reconcile these two seemingly conflicting theories. First, we provide overviews of the two theoretical frameworks and their standard associated experimental paradigms. We then synthesize the existing literature in order to reach a resolution for the associative deficit hypothesis and inhibitory deficit hypothesis frameworks together: Evidence supporting both frameworks points to changes in effortful, controlled processing that lead to differential effects in associative memory function in aging. In revisiting the explanatory contribution of this long-standing theory of cognitive aging, we raise areas of interest and key considerations to advance future work on associative memory in older adults. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).