ABSTRACT

Episodic memory binds together diverse elements of an event into a cohesive unit. This property enables the reconstruction of multidimensional experiences when triggered by a cue related to a past event via pattern completion processes. Such holistic retrieval is evident in young adults, as shown by dependency in the retrieval success for different associations from the same event [Horner, A. J., & Burgess, N. The associative structure of memory for multi-element events. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 142(4), 1370–1383. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0033626, 2013; Horner, A. J., & Burgess, N. (2014). Pattern completion in multielement event engrams. Current Biology, 24(9), 988–992. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2014.03.012, 2014]. Aspects of episodic memory capacity are vulnerable to ageing processes, including reduced abilities to form linkages among aspects of an event through relational binding (Naveh-Benjamin, 2000). Here, we used dependency analyses to examine whether older adults retrieve events holistically, and whether the degree of holistic retrieval declines with old age. We found that both young and older adults retrieved events as an integrated unit, but older adults showed a lower magnitude of holistic retrieval compared to young adults. Holistic retrieval declined with advancing age, even after controlling for pairwise relational binding performance. These results suggest that a decline in holistic retrieval is an aspect of episodic memory decrements in cognitive ageing.

摘要

情景记忆将事件的不同元素结合成一个有凝聚力的单元。当通过模式完成过程由与过去事件相关的线索触发时，此属性能够重建多维体验。这种整体检索在年轻人中很明显，正如对同一事件的不同关联的检索成功的依赖性所表明的那样 [Horner, AJ, & Burgess, N. 多元素事件的记忆关联结构。实验心理学杂志：一般，142（4），1370-1383。https://doi.org/10.1037/a0033626, 2013；霍纳，AJ 和伯吉斯，N.（2014 年）。多元素事件印迹中的模式完成。当代生物学, 24(9), 988–992。https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2014.03.012, 2014]。情景记忆能力的各个方面容易受到老化过程的影响，包括通过关系绑定在事件的各个方面之间形成联系的能力降低（Naveh-Benjamin，2000）。在这里，我们使用依赖分析来检查老年人是否全面地检索事件，以及整体检索的程度是否随着年龄的增长而下降。我们发现，年轻人和老年人都将事件作为一个整体进行检索，但与年轻人相比，老年人的整体检索幅度较低。即使在控制了成对关系绑定性能之后，整体检索也会随着年龄的增长而下降。这些结果表明，整体检索的下降是认知衰老中情景记忆下降的一个方面。