Aging, Memory, and Decision Making

Aging differentially affects diverse aspects of memory functioning. In turn, memory changes have specific effects on different judgment and decision-making tasks. This chapter focuses on the consequences of age-related changes in memory processes—including working memory, episodic memory, semantic memory, and implicit memory—and how these changes affect performance on judgment and decision-making tasks. A review of relevant research shows how the decline in working memory negatively affects performance on the more cognitively demanding decision-making tasks. It also shows that working memory plays a central role in explaining the age-related decline in decision making. Moreover, the review illustrates how different memory processes, showing distinct age-related trajectories, may functionally support performance on different kinds of judgment and decision-making tasks. Finally, the chapter discusses how age-related memory changes may interact with other cognitive and noncognitive changes in shaping decision-making behavior.