Predicting response of older adults to mnemonic training: who will benefit?

OBJECTIVES: To identify profiles of subjects who respond to mnemonic training for serial word and proper name recall. DESIGN: Analysis of J. O. Brooks et al.'s (1999) mnemonic training data using Quality Receiver Operating Characteristic (QROC) and longitudinal regression analyses (LRA). SETTING: Community. PARTICIPANTS: 224 community-dwelling adults 55 years of age and older who wished to improve their memory. MEASUREMENTS: Performance on serial word and proper name tests; performance on cognitive ability tests. RESULTS: Although the QROC and LRA identified several common predictors (baseline performance, mental rotation ability, and paired associate learning), the QROC identified additional predictors and cognitive ability profiles associated with successful response. CONCLUSIONS: Similar degrees of response to mnemonic training are associated with heterogeneous cognitive profiles. This finding highlights the fact that participants rely on a variety of abilities to derive benefit from mnemonic training and thus suggests different avenues from which to approach this training.

Memory training in normal and demented elderly populations: the E-I-E-I-O model.

An heuristic classification scheme for memory interventions is described as a 2 x 2 matrix. One dimension of the matrix addresses the use of internal versus external mnemonics, and the other dimension addresses the use of explicit (effortful/conscious) versus implicit (automatic/unconscious) learning. Most attempts at memory interventions in normal older populations, such as the use of mental imagery, fall within the explicit-internal cell of the matrix and require expenditure of large amounts of cognitive effort. As a result, memory interventions in normal older populations, even when "successful," usually produce results that are limited in their generalization and are usually not maintained over time. Such interventions are rarely attempted in demented populations. Interventions are described that require less effort and are representative of other cells in the classification matrix. These may be more effective for demented and normal elders. Information acquired through these alternative means may eventually be stored internally and become consciously available, often producing an "O!" or "aha" experience when the individual realizes a shift to internal, consciously available storage has taken place.

Prospective memory intervention in Alzheimer's disease.

Four individuals with Alzheimer's disease were trained to remember and to implement an intention for future action. The training program utilized the spaced-retrieval method, which involves active attempts to recall information over expanding intervals of time. All participants learned to select a colored coupon from an array of distractors and offer it to the experimenter after a week's delay. Following one-week retention of the initial task, a different coupon became the new training target. All participants were able to shift to this new task requirement, and all learned three successive coupon colors successfully. These results indicate that individuals with Alzheimer's disease can learn a prospective memory task using spaced-retrieval practice and can make adjustments for changing task requirements.