The effect of old age on the learning of supraspan sequences.

Two experiments examined age-related differences in sequence learning using computerized versions of the D. O. Hebb (1961) paradigm. In this learning task, the participant executes immediate serial recall of 24 supraspan sequences. Without the participants' knowledge, 1 sequence is presented several times. Repetition leads to improved recall of this repeated sequence relative to random sequences. Results showed a dissociation in age-related learning deficits depending on the nature of the to-be-remembered material. The effect of repetition is similar for younger and older adults with familiar and unfamiliar verbal material (words and pseudowords) but is significantly reduced in older adults when learning is assessed with a visuospatial version of Hebb's supraspan learning task (P. M. Corsi, 1972).

[1]  Robert A. Koeppe,et al.  Neurocognitive ageing of storage and executive processes , 2001 .

[2]  D. Gopher,et al.  Attention and performance XVII: Cognitive regulation of performance: Interaction of theory and application. , 1999 .

[3]  L. Squire,et al.  Perceptual learning, awareness, and the hippocampus , 2001, Hippocampus.

[4]  Michael A. Stadler,et al.  Handbook of implicit learning , 1998 .

[5]  M. Moscovitch,et al.  Memory for temporal order and conditional associative-learning in patients with Parkinson's disease , 1990, Neuropsychologia.

[6]  Philip M. Corsi Human memory and the medial temporal region of the brain. , 1972 .

[7]  Alan J. Parkin,et al.  Errorless learning of novel associations in amnesia , 1997, Neuropsychologia.

[8]  Joel Myerson,et al.  Effects of Age, Domain, and Processing Demands on Memory Span: Evidence for Differential Decline , 2003 .

[9]  N. Hunkin,et al.  Are the benefits of errorless learning dependent on implicit memory? , 1998, Neuropsychologia.

[10]  M J Watkins,et al.  Further evidence of the intricacy of memory span. , 1990, Journal of experimental psychology. Learning, memory, and cognition.

[11]  Verbal and visuospatial recall by younger and older subjects: use of matched tasks. , 1989, Psychology and aging.

[12]  T. Salthouse,et al.  Decomposing adult age differences in working memory. , 1991 .

[13]  J. Myerson,et al.  Experimental evidence for differential slowing in the lexical and nonlexical domains , 1996 .

[14]  S. Cornelius Classic pattern of intellectual aging: test familiarity, difficulty, and performance. , 1984, Journal of gerontology.

[15]  I. Whishaw,et al.  Fundamentals of Human Neuropsychology , 1995 .

[16]  M. D’Esposito,et al.  Functional MRI studies of spatial and nonspatial working memory. , 1998, Brain research. Cognitive brain research.

[17]  R. Cabeza,et al.  Task-independent and task-specific age effects on brain activity during working memory, visual attention and episodic retrieval. , 2004, Cerebral cortex.

[18]  W. K. Caird Reverberator Activity and Memory Disorder , 1964, Nature.

[19]  Angela D. Friederici,et al.  Procedural Learning in Broca's Aphasia: Dissociation between the Implicit Acquisition of Spatio-Motor and Phoneme Sequences , 2001, Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience.

[20]  A. Desrochers,et al.  Valeurs de fréquence subjective et d'imagerie pour un échantillon de 1,916 substantifs de la langue française. , 2000 .

[21]  A. W. Melton Implications of short-term memory for a general theory of memory , 1963 .

[22]  Eva Bertha Kemps,et al.  Effects of Complexity on Visuo-spatial Working Memory , 1999 .

[23]  S. Folstein,et al.  "Mini-mental state". A practical method for grading the cognitive state of patients for the clinician. , 1975, Journal of psychiatric research.

[24]  Alan D. Baddeley,et al.  Errorless learning in the rehabilitation of memory impaired people , 1994 .

[25]  J. Delafresnaye,et al.  Brain mechanisms and learning , 1961 .

[26]  M J Watkins,et al.  Learning to reproduce a list and memory for the learning. , 1991, The American journal of psychology.

[27]  J. Vousden,et al.  Adult age differences in short-term memory for serial order: data and a model. , 1999, Psychology and aging.

[28]  S. MacDonald,et al.  Performance variability is related to change in cognition: evidence from the Victoria Longitudinal Study. , 2003, Psychology and aging.

[29]  Derek Besner,et al.  Basic processes in reading: Two phonological codes. , 1982 .

[30]  Jonas Persson,et al.  Large Scale Neurocognitive Networks Underlying Episodic Memory , 2000, Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience.

[31]  R. Rausch,et al.  Supraspan learning in patients with unilateral anterior temporal lobe resections , 1990, Neuropsychologia.

[32]  N. Raz Aging of the brain and its impact on cognitive performance: Integration of structural and functional findings. , 2000 .

[33]  S. Gagnon,et al.  The effect of old age on supra-span learning of visuo-spatial sequences under incidental and intentional encoding instructions , 2005, Brain and Cognition.

[34]  Carol A. Seger,et al.  Implicit learning. , 1994, Psychological bulletin.

[35]  Cynthia P. May,et al.  Inhibitory control, circadian arousal, and age. , 1999 .

[36]  Marie Poirier,et al.  Immediate serial recall of words and nonwords: Tests of the retrieval-based hypothesis , 2000, Psychonomic bulletin & review.

[37]  U. Mayr,et al.  Spatial attention and implicit sequence learning: evidence for independent learning of spatial and nonspatial sequences. , 1996, Journal of experimental psychology. Learning, memory, and cognition.

[38]  Lynn Hasher,et al.  The role of interference in memory span , 1999, Memory & cognition.

[39]  M J Watkins,et al.  The intricacy of memory span , 1977, Memory & cognition.

[40]  J. Myerson,et al.  Differential Decline of Verbal and Visuospatial Processing Speed Across the Adult Life Span , 1998 .

[41]  Thierry Meulemans,et al.  Does the artificial grammar learning paradigm involve the acquisition of complex information , 1997 .

[42]  Henry L. Roediger,et al.  The question of awareness in research on implicit learning , 1998 .

[43]  Sylvain Gagnon,et al.  Involvement of the hippocampus in implicit learning of supra-span sequences: The case of sj , 2004, Cognitive neuropsychology.

[44]  G. Bower,et al.  Group structure, coding, and memory for digit series , 1969 .

[45]  A. Healy,et al.  Effects of repetition on short-term retention of order information. , 1984, Journal of experimental psychology. Learning, memory, and cognition.

[46]  D. Howard,et al.  Age differences in learning serial patterns: direct versus indirect measures. , 1989, Psychology and aging.

[47]  D. Howard,et al.  When it does hurt to try: Adult age differences in the effects of instructions on implicit pattern learning , 2001, Psychonomic bulletin & review.

[48]  Michael A. Stadler,et al.  Implicit serial learning: Questions inspired by Hebb (1961) , 1993, Memory & cognition.

[49]  E. Squires M emory Notebook Training in a Case of Severe Amnesia: Generalising from Paired Associate Learning to Real Life. , 1996, Neuropsychological rehabilitation.

[50]  A. Baddeley Recent developments in working memory , 1998, Current Opinion in Neurobiology.

[51]  H. Kay Learning of a Serial Task by Different Age Groups , 1951 .

[52]  R. Cabeza,et al.  Imaging Cognition II: An Empirical Review of 275 PET and fMRI Studies , 2000, Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience.

[53]  J. H. Howard,et al.  Age differences in implicit learning of higher order dependencies in serial patterns. , 1997, Psychology and aging.

[54]  J. H. Howard,et al.  Adult age differences in the rate of learning serial patterns: evidence from direct and indirect tests. , 1992, Psychology and aging.

[55]  P. D. Mccormack Temporal coding and study-phase retrieval in young and elderly adults , 1982 .

[56]  E Pellouchoud,et al.  Neurophysiological signals of working memory in normal aging. , 2001, Brain research. Cognitive brain research.

[57]  Pamela K. Smith,et al.  Models of visuospatial and verbal memory across the adult life span. , 2002, Psychology and aging.

[58]  L Hasher,et al.  Working memory span and the role of proactive interference. , 2001, Journal of experimental psychology. General.

[59]  Scott T. Grafton,et al.  Functional Mapping of Sequence Learning in Normal Humans , 1995, Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience.

[60]  K. Kirasic,et al.  Spatial cognition and behavior in young and elderly adults: implications for learning new environments. , 1991, Psychology and aging.

[61]  D. Hebb Distinctive features of learning in the higher animal , 1961 .

[62]  S Hale,et al.  Converging evidence that visuospatial cognition is more age-sensitive than verbal cognition. , 2000, Psychology and aging.

[63]  Gordon D. A. Brown,et al.  Memory for familiar and unfamiliar words: Evidence for a long-term memory contribution to short-term memory span , 1991 .

[64]  Bryan Kolb,et al.  Fundamentals of human neuropsychology, 3rd ed. , 1990 .

[65]  F. Craik,et al.  AGE DIFFERENCES IN CUMULATIVE LEARNING OF MEANINGFUL AND MEANINGLESS MATERIAL , 1964 .

[66]  Denise C. Park,et al.  Handbook of the Psychology of Aging , 1979 .

[67]  Aging and short-term memory. , 1966, Journal of gerontology.

[68]  Scott T. Grafton,et al.  Attention and stimulus characteristics determine the locus of motor-sequence encoding. A PET study. , 1997, Brain : a journal of neurology.

[69]  J. Hoffmann,et al.  The role of stimulus-based and response-based spatial information in sequence learning , 2000 .

[70]  I Koch,et al.  The role of stimulus-based and response-based spatial information in sequence learning. , 2000, Journal of experimental psychology. Learning, memory, and cognition.

[71]  N. Raz,et al.  Differential effects of aging on memory for content and context: a meta-analysis. , 1995, Psychology and aging.

[72]  A. Desrochers,et al.  Norms of subjective frequency of use and imagery for a sample of 1,916 French nouns. , 2000, Canadian journal of experimental psychology = Revue canadienne de psychologie experimentale.

[73]  D. Wechsler Manual for the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale. , 1955 .

[74]  C. Vaidya,et al.  Implicit spatial contextual learning in healthy aging. , 2004, Neuropsychology.

[75]  S Hale,et al.  Selective interference with verbal and spatial working memory in young and older adults. , 1999, The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences.