ABSTRACT

Recall of story materials is a primary way to assess episodic memory. However, the standard scoring method may not be maximally sensitive to cognitive decline. We developed a set of 24 stories, and younger and older adults heard these stories and recalled them immediately and after a delay (Study 1). Twelve of these stories were then selected, and older adults and people with MCI completed immediate and delayed recall of these stories (Study 2). Responses were classified as veridical, gist, or distorted, and were scored by number of units and number of propositions recalled. Younger adults had higher veridical recall than older adults, and proposition-based scoring revealed higher gist recall in older than younger adults. Gist and distortion recall increased over time in older adults, but decreased in MCI. Using proposition-based scoring and distinguishing between veridical and gist responses may discriminate better between healthy older adults and people with MCI.

摘要

回忆故事材料是评估情景记忆的主要方法。然而，标准评分方法可能不会对认知能力下降最敏感。我们开发了一组 24 个故事，年轻人和老年人听到这些故事并在延迟后立即回忆（研究 1）。然后选择了其中的 12 个故事，老年人和患有 MCI 的人完成了对这些故事的即时和延迟回忆（研究 2）。回答被分类为真实的、主旨的或扭曲的，并按单元数和回忆的命题数进行评分。年轻人比老年人有更高的真实回忆，基于命题的评分显示老年人比年轻人更高的要点回忆。随着时间的推移，老年人的要点和扭曲回忆增加，但 MCI 减少。