Abstract
Autobiographical memory (AM) is an essential component of the human mind. Although the([A-z]+) amount and types of subjective detail (content) that compose AMs constitute important dimensions of recall, age-related changes in memory content are not well characterized. Previously, we introduced the Cue-Recalled Autobiographical Memory test (CRAM; see http://cramtest.info), an instrument that collects subjective reports of AM content, and applied it to college-aged subjects. CRAM elicits AMs using naturalistic word-cues. Subsequently, subjects date each cued AM to a life period and count the number of remembered details from specified categories (features), e.g., temporal detail, spatial detail, persons, objects, and emotions. The current work applies CRAM to a broad range of individuals (18–78 years old) to quantify the effects of age on AM content. Subject age showed a moderately positive effect on AM content: older compared with younger adults reported ∼16% more details (∼25 vs. ∼21 in typical AMs). This age-related increase in memory content was similarly observed for remote and recent AMs, although content declined with the age of the event among all subjects. In general, the distribution of details across features was largely consistent among younger and older adults. However, certain types of details, i.e., those related to objects and sequences of events, contributed more to the age effect on content. Altogether, this work identifies a moderate age-related feature-specific alteration in the way life events are subjectively recalled, among an otherwise stable retrieval profile.
Highlights
Autobiographical memory (AM) refers to the recollection of personally experienced episodes specified in time, and has critical functions among adults of all ages (e.g., Pillemer, 1992; Bluck et al, 2005; Bluck and Alea, 2011; Waters, 2014)
AM Retrieval Probabilities are Modulated by Subject Age and Life Period Autobiographical memory retrieval probabilities were analyzed against the age of the subject at the time of the recalled episode among various age groups (Figure 1)
We found a relative increase in the number of AMs dated to adolescence through young adulthood, and a relative absence of AMs from early childhood
Summary
Autobiographical memory (AM) refers to the recollection of personally experienced episodes specified in time, and has critical functions among adults of all ages (e.g., Pillemer, 1992; Bluck et al, 2005; Bluck and Alea, 2011; Waters, 2014). As any given AM is associated with a unique episode retrieved from a countless variety of experiences, any two AMs may differ greatly in terms of the type and amount of detail they contain (i.e., their content). Aging and autobiographical memory detail monitoring (i.e., the process that determines the association between a memory and a particular context or source; Johnson and Raye, 1981; Johnson et al, 1988; Hashtroudi et al, 1990). As accurate source determinations may deteriorate in older adults (e.g., Cohen and Faulkner, 1989; Hashtroudi et al, 1990; Johnson et al, 1993; Gerlach et al, 2014), an understanding of age-related changes in AM content is essential. Quantitative characterization of AM content is lacking, most notably across a range of ages representative of the adult population, and across the life span of a given individual
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