Age-related memory decline is a multifaceted and heterogeneous process. Previous studies on working memory and episodic memory have demonstrated that older participants’ memory for spatial item-context bindings drops dramatically, while it is relatively preserved for individual items. Here, we extend this research in two ways: first, we study memory for spatial context not for individual items, but for ordered item sequences, second, we investigate how blocked versus interleaved learning curricula affect item, order and context memory for older versus younger adults. Across two behavioral experiments with 108 younger (18-35 years) and 100 older (over 65 years) adults, we find better memory for item sequences than position sequences and worst performance for combined item-position sequence reports in both age-groups. Notably, age differences followed the same pattern, being least pronounced for sequential item memory and most for combined item-position sequences. Changing the learning curriculum such that either spatial or item sequences repeated across times, rather than occurring in an interleaved fashion, improved memory performance in both age groups, but had a stronger effect on older than younger adults, suggesting that blocked learning curricula can help older adults with reallocation of limited cognitive resources.

Authors:

Xiangjuan Ren: Universität Hamburg; Marit Petzka: Universität Hamburg; Nicolas Schuck: Universität Hamburg