Abstract
information is available about subjective memory and strategy use in seniors with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). We investigated whether differences exist in the perception of changes in memory, perceived frequency of forgetting, overall memory evaluation, and strategy use between seniors with MCI and unimpaired older adults. The study included 56 participants, aged 60 years and older, including 28 normal controls (NC) and 28 MCI patients. The participants completed the Short Cognitive Performance Test, the Story and Grocery list recall tasks, the 15-item Geriatric Depression Scale, the Memory Complaint Questionnaire for the perception of changes in episodic memory, the McNair Frequency of Forgetting Questionnaire, and a single question that evaluated overall memory. The Bousfield semantic clustering measure was calculated to assess semantic clustering for list recall. The number of underlined words during story encoding was calculated to assess strategy use. Participants with MCI had significantly worse scores on Story and Grocery list recall, semantic clustering, and overall memory evaluation. No differences were found in the number of underlined words. List recall was significantly correlated with semantic clustering in both groups (NC: r = .58, p = .001; MCI: r = .57, p = .002). Participants with MCI appeared to be less efficacious when using memory strategies, which may be associated with poor memory performance.
Highlights
Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) refers to a transitional stage between age-associated memory impairment and dementia
Chung & Man (2009), for example, reported that the self-appraisal of cognitive function in persons with MCI did not correlate with informant reports or neuropsychological test scores, but self-reported strategy use correlated with list recall and everyday memory tests in their sample. These findings suggest that older adults with MCI may show signs of diminished awareness of their subtle impairments in cognitive functioning
No significant differences were found in the number of underlined words during story encoding, the perception of decline in memory performance, or reports of the frequency of forgetting events
Summary
Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) refers to a transitional stage between age-associated memory impairment and dementia. MCI patients exhibit lower memory performance, limited information is available about how they approach cognitive tasks. Results from the latter study indicated that older adults with MCI benefited from using semantic cues. Bennett, Golob, Parker, & Starr (2006) reported that older adults with MCI and normal controls (NC) did not differ in a measure of recall strategy (i.e., subjective organization and recall consistency), MCI patients exhibited significantly lower performance in list recall. Froger, Taconnat, Landré, Beigneux, & Isingrini (2009), in a small but elegant study, reported that older adults with MCI used semantic cues during encoding, but performance benefits were observed only in tasks that used recognition paradigms Results from the latter study indicated that older adults with MCI benefited from using semantic cues. Bennett, Golob, Parker, & Starr (2006) reported that older adults with MCI and normal controls (NC) did not differ in a measure of recall strategy (i.e., subjective organization and recall consistency), MCI patients exhibited significantly lower performance in list recall. Froger, Taconnat, Landré, Beigneux, & Isingrini (2009), in a small but elegant study, reported that older adults with MCI used semantic cues during encoding, but performance benefits were observed only in tasks that used recognition paradigms
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