Context-dependent remembering in older adults

• Applicant: Professorin Dr. Beatrice G. Kuhlmann
• Subject Area: General, Cognitive and Mathematical Psychology
• Term: since 2019
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 426600523

One of the most prominent features of cognitive aging is a disruption in memory processes that takes two forms: older adults struggle with accessing relevant information in memory but also experience misrecollections (false memories with high confidence). Any program of mitigating older adults’ memory deficits needs first to address the issue of how these two types of memory errors arise. The purpose of the present project is to investigate older adults’ memory deficits in terms of context-dependent remembering.Current memory models emphasise that access to particular memories requires utilizing appropriate contextual cues (e.g., physical environment in which information was stored). Thus, encoding and later using context cues benefits memory. However, using contextual cues at retrieval carries risks: inappropriate cues may result not only in failure to access relevant memories but also in metacognitive errors ('illusion of knowing': overconfidence in erroneous responses). We hypothesise that older adults´ memory deficits may stem from both underusing of appropriate contextual cues – due to general deficits in associative encoding of context– and overusing inappropriate contextual cues at retrieval.Across eight experiments, the current project will assess context-dependent remembering in older as compared to younger adults, testing two specific hypotheses regarding older adults’ memory deficits:1) The hypothesis that older adults fail to fully utilise contextual cues at memory retrieval due to deficits in associative encoding such that promoting context encoding and context reinstatement will disproportionately benefit older adults’ memory;2) The hypothesis that older adults do not appropriately appraise their memory because they tend to erroneously bind retrieval context with retrieval products, resulting in illusions of knowledge when access to familiar contextual cues is not restricted at retrieval. The project will elucidate the bases of older adults’ memory deficits. Assessing the role of context reinstatement on memory retrieval will serve to elaborate upon the state-of-the-art associative deficit hypothesis of memory impairment in older age. Assessing the role of context familiarity on metamemory will serve to extend the research on older adults’ memory to the understudied domain of appraisals of memory retrieval.The Polish team – led by Dr. Hanczakowski – has experience in research on memory and metamemory processes, particularly as related to context-dependent remembering, documented by a number of publications in leading cognitive psychology journals. The German team – led by Dr. Kuhlmann – has experience in research on older adults’ memory, also documented in a number of top publications. The joint project will combine both teams’ expertise, extending Dr. Hanczakowski’s previous research to a novel population and extending Dr. Kuhlmann’s theoretical work to a novel set of environmental factors.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• International Connection: Poland, United Kingdom
• Partner Organisation: Narodowe Centrum Nauki (NCN)
• Cooperation Partners: Dr. Maciej Hanczakowski; Dr. Katarzyna Zawadzka