Certainty-weighted recognition memory: Potential applications for early detection and metacognition

BackgroundMemory loss is a core feature of typical Alzheimer's disease (AD) and amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI). Standard memory tests such as word lists assess verbal episodic memory with delayed recall and recognition. However, actual memory fidelity is likely variable, continuous, and has a subjective component.ObjectiveWe investigated dual-processing models of episodic memory (recollection versus familiarity) using confidence ratings in a "judgment of knowing" paradigm (JOK).MethodsThis paradigm was applied to the Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer's Disease (CERAD) memory test as part of neuropsychological evaluation at University of Pittsburgh Alzheimer's Disease Research Center (ADRC), to generate novel indices of memory function to improve sensitivity to early memory problems and provide a memory awareness metric. On recognition testing, participants rated how sure they were of their yes/no responses to each item. We derived novel variables related to memory and metacognition, including an Accuracy-Certainty Index and the Relative Certainty Index.ResultsIn this sample of 347 participants (185 with AD, 55 with MCI, 111 cognitively unimpaired), CERAD Delayed Recall was the best single variable for discriminating groups, although multiple certainty variables also discriminated groups well.ConclusionsThe addition of certainty indices to a standard verbal memory task increased discriminative power between groups, particularly between cognitively normal controls and MCI or AD.