{"title":"Preservation of long-term memory in older adults using a spaced learning paradigm.","authors":"Michelle Caffrey, Sean Commins","doi":"10.1007/s10433-023-00750-5","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>How much information we retain depends on type/schedule of training. It has been widely acknowledged that spaced learning is advantageous compared to massed learning for cognitively healthy young adults and should be considered an educational standard. Literature would suggest that the spacing effect is preserved with age, though it is unclear whether this effect translates to more ecologically valid concepts such as face-name associations, which are particularly susceptible to deterioration with age. Two experiments were conducted to investigate the effects of spacing across recent/remote retention intervals, and the effect of age on spacing in cognitively healthy older adults using the Face-Name Pairs task. Experiment 1 results suggest that the beneficial memory effects of spacing are particularly observed with long-term memory. Experiment 2 results suggest that older adults are impaired at learning compared to younger adults, that the spacing effect influences both older and younger adults at longer intervals, and that spaced-trained participants display similar forgetting patterns at longer intervals, irrespective of age. These results may have some implications regarding improving the conditions under which optimum retention occurs (namely, whether spacing is beneficial when learning ecologically valid concepts at longer intervals outside of laboratory settings), and may provide insight into the effect of age on our ability to learn and remember face-name associations.</p>","PeriodicalId":47766,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Ageing","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.7000,"publicationDate":"2023-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9892402/pdf/","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"European Journal of Ageing","FirstCategoryId":"90","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s10433-023-00750-5","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"GERONTOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
How much information we retain depends on type/schedule of training. It has been widely acknowledged that spaced learning is advantageous compared to massed learning for cognitively healthy young adults and should be considered an educational standard. Literature would suggest that the spacing effect is preserved with age, though it is unclear whether this effect translates to more ecologically valid concepts such as face-name associations, which are particularly susceptible to deterioration with age. Two experiments were conducted to investigate the effects of spacing across recent/remote retention intervals, and the effect of age on spacing in cognitively healthy older adults using the Face-Name Pairs task. Experiment 1 results suggest that the beneficial memory effects of spacing are particularly observed with long-term memory. Experiment 2 results suggest that older adults are impaired at learning compared to younger adults, that the spacing effect influences both older and younger adults at longer intervals, and that spaced-trained participants display similar forgetting patterns at longer intervals, irrespective of age. These results may have some implications regarding improving the conditions under which optimum retention occurs (namely, whether spacing is beneficial when learning ecologically valid concepts at longer intervals outside of laboratory settings), and may provide insight into the effect of age on our ability to learn and remember face-name associations.
期刊介绍:
The European Journal of Ageing: Social, Behavioural and Health Perspectives is an interdisciplinary journal devoted to the understanding of ageing in European societies and the world over.
EJA publishes original articles on the social, behavioral and population health aspects of ageing and encourages an integrated approach between these aspects.
Emphasis is put on publishing empirical research (including meta-analyses), but conceptual papers (including narrative reviews) and methodological contributions will also be considered.
EJA welcomes expert opinions on critical issues in ageing.
By stimulating communication between researchers and those using research findings, it aims to contribute to the formulation of better policies and the development of better practice in serving older adults.
To further specify, with the term ''social'' is meant the full scope of social science of ageing related research from the micro to the macro level of analysis. With the term ''behavioural'' the full scope of psychological ageing research including life span approaches based on a range of age groups from young to old is envisaged. The term ''population health-related'' denotes social-epidemiological and public health oriented research including research on functional health in the widest possible sense.