The cognitive control of emotional versus value-based information in younger and older adults

Untangling the threads of motivated memory: Independent influences of reward and emotion

Motivational and emotional influences on memory have been studied extensively; however, despite the link between these constructs, they have been studied in separate lines of research, with very little work examining their effects concurrently. The current study takes a novel approach to manipulate motivational and emotional influences orthogonally, and within the same task, to test their interplay on intentional memory formation. If emotion and reward motivation are tightly linked, they may rely on overlapping cognitive mechanisms, thus we would not expect emotion and reward to interact in memory. Alternatively, they could be distinct constructs and therefore would boost memory when both are included in the same experimental trial, above and beyond additive effects. To test these competing predictions, in Experiment 1, participants (n = 180) completed an old/new recognition memory task with emotional (negative, positive) and neutral words intentionally encoded with high or low reward anticipation cues. In Experiment 2, participants (n = 159) encoded emotional and neutral words with a high or low reward cue, but memory was tested with free recall using study-test blocks. The findings from both experiments converged. There were main effects of emotion and reward in generally hypothesized directions, but no evidence of an interaction between these factors. This is in line with the prediction that emotion and reward motivation are similar constructs. Their combination within a trial does not boost memory above and beyond either of these factors alone perhaps indicating these constructs have similar cognitive mechanisms.

Serial and strategic memory processes in younger and older adults

We investigated age-related differences in serial and strategic processing during the encoding and retrieval of high-value words. Younger and older adults were presented with word triads positioned left, center, and right, with one word being more valuable than the others. In Experiment 1, younger adults more effectively recalled the middle, high-value word, demonstrating enhanced strategic memory. Younger adults were more likely to initiate recall with a high-value word whereas older adults were equally likely to initiate recall with a left and high-value word. Additionally, older adults were more likely to recall words in their presented order while younger adults strategically recalled successive high-value words. However, both age groups demonstrated strategic processing in Experiments 2 and 3, even without prior knowledge of the high-value word's location. Thus, serial and strategic processing may differ based on age and task demands, but strategic processing is preserved in older adults in certain contexts.

The effect of emotional valence and font size on metacognition and memory

Predictions about memory involve the use of metacognition, and metacognition can rely on various cues. The present study investigated metacognition and recall performance when to-be-remembered words differed in font size and emotional valence, to determine what cues are utilised when making metacognitive judgments. Participants were presented with lists of words varying in font size (small and large) and emotional valence (negative and neutral) and were asked to remember as many words as possible for a later recall test while engaging in item-level metacognitive assessments. Specifically, after studying each word, participants either made only judgments of learning (JOLs, Experiment 1) or both JOLs and restudy judgments (Experiment 2). Across experiments, results revealed that while JOLs were sensitive to both font size and emotional valence, restudy judgments were mostly sensitive to emotional valence, and participants' metacognitive assessments mapped onto memory performance generally for emotional words. Additionally, we found that the effect of font size on metacognition and memory was robust to experience-based learning. Together, the current study extends our understanding of how emotion and font size affect metacognition (monitoring and control) and memory and suggests that when presented with multiple cues, certain diagnostic cues can be harnessed to mitigate metacognitive illusions.

Memory selectivity in older age

Memory often declines with age, but older adults can off-set memory challenges by selectively remembering important information. When encountering large amounts of information and knowing that memory is limited, older adults may choose to focus on what is most important and forget less relevant details. Prioritizing what to remember becomes essential when memory is limited, and influences what information can be off-loaded. While forgetting can be frustrating and consequential, a lifetime of these experiences may help older adults learn to focus on strategically remembering important information and life events. Curiosity and emotion may also guide what older adults remember, such that selective remembering can be an adaptive way to use memory efficiently in older age.

Age-related positivity effect in emotional memory consolidation from middle age to late adulthood

Background

While younger adults are more likely to attend to, process, and remember negative relative to positive information, healthy older adults show the opposite pattern. The current study evaluates when, exactly, this positivity shift begins, and how it influences memory performance for positive, negative, and neutral information.

Methods

A total of 274 healthy early middle-aged (35-47), late middle-aged (48-59), and older adults (>59) viewed scenes consisting of a negative, positive, or a neutral object placed on a plausible neutral background, and rated each scene for its valence and arousal. After 12 h spanning a night of sleep (n = 137) or a day of wakefulness (n = 137), participants completed an unexpected memory test during which they were shown objects and backgrounds separately and indicated whether the scene component was the "same," "similar," or "new" to what they viewed during the study session.

Results and conclusions

We found that both late middle-aged and older adults rated positive and neutral scenes more positively compared to early middle-aged adults. However, only older adults showed better memory for positive objects relative to negative objects, and a greater positive memory trade-off magnitude (i.e., remembering positive objects at the cost of their associated neutral backgrounds) than negative memory trade-off magnitude (i.e., remembering negative objects at the cost of their associated neutral backgrounds). Our findings suggest that while the positivity bias may not emerge in memory until older adulthood, a shift toward positivity in terms of processing may begin in middle age.

Reward association impairs recognition of incidentally encoded negative information: Electrophysiological evidence

Previous studies investigating the effect of reward on emotional episodic memory have produced inconsistent results. In this study, through two experiments using event-related potentials (ERPs), we investigated the effect of reward association on the encoding and retrieval of incidentally encoded emotional information, and examined whether this effect changes over time. Participants in the two experiments were asked to discriminate the emotional valence of color images under reward or no-reward condition and incidentally encode them. Immediate (in Experiment 1) or 24-hour delayed (in Experiment 2) recognition after encoding was tested. In Experiments 1 and 2, reward (relative to no-reward) significantly improved the recognition of positive and neutral items, but significantly reduced the recognition of negative items. During encoding, the significant ERP reward effects (significantly more positive ERP amplitude for rewarded items than for non-rewarded ones) for positive and neutral images were widely distributed from 200 to 1500 ms after image onset, while those for negative stimuli occurred mainly from 200 to 500 ms. During retrieval, the significant ERP reward effects for positive and neutral items occurred in the two experiments, but the reversed ERP reward effects for negative items were found only in Experiment 1. The results of the present study suggest that reward association affects the encoding and retrieval of emotional images by enhancing memory processing efficiency of positive and neutral items, while impairing recognition of negative items, thus yielding a robust and sustained modulation over frontal/frontocentral or centroparietal/parietal areas where mechanisms of reward and emotion processing operate in conjunction.

Value-directed memory selectivity relies on goal-directed knowledge of value structure prior to encoding in young and older adults

People are generally able to selectively attend and remember high-value over low-value information. Here, we investigated whether young and older adults would display typical value-based memory selectivity effects for to-be-learned item-value associations when goal-directed information about the meaning of associated values was presented before and after encoding. In two experiments, both young and older adults were presented with one (Experiment 1) or multiple (Experiment 2) lists of words that were arbitrarily paired with different numerical values (e.g., "door-8") or font colors (e.g., "door" presented in red), which indicated each word's value. In Experiment 1, participants were told that the numerical value indicated the relative importance of each item either before they studied the list (preencoding), after they studied it (postencoding), or not at all (no value control instructions). Older adults were significantly more selective in the preencoding condition relative to the other conditions, whereas younger adults were not selective in any condition on this single-list (numerical) value task of Experiment 1. In Experiment 2, young and older adults were tested on four additional lists of both pre- and postencoding trials each after studying and recalling four lists of words without any value instructions. Results from Experiment 2 revealed that both young and older adults selectively prioritized high-value words on the preencoding trials, but not on postencoding trials, on this color-based categorical (low-medium-high) value task. The present study highlights a critical role of goal-directed knowledge of value-based instructions prior to encoding to facilitate typically observed value-directed memory selectivity for important information. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Developmental change in prefrontal cortex recruitment supports the emergence of value-guided memory

Prioritizing memory for valuable information can promote adaptive behavior across the lifespan, but it is unclear how the neurocognitive mechanisms that enable the selective acquisition of useful knowledge develop. Here, using a novel task coupled with functional magnetic resonance imaging, we examined how children, adolescents, and adults (N = 90) learn from experience what information is likely to be rewarding, and modulate encoding and retrieval processes accordingly. We found that the ability to use learned value signals to selectively enhance memory for useful information strengthened throughout childhood and into adolescence. Encoding and retrieval of high- vs. low-value information was associated with increased activation in striatal and prefrontal regions implicated in value processing and cognitive control. Age-related increases in value-based lateral prefrontal cortex modulation mediated the relation between age and memory selectivity. Our findings demonstrate that developmental increases in the strategic engagement of the prefrontal cortex support the emergence of adaptive memory.

Value-directed memory effects on item and context memory

The ability to prioritize learning some information over others when that information is considered important or valuable is known as value-directed remembering. In these experiments, we investigate how value influences different aspects of memory, including item memory (memory for the to-be-learned materials) and context memory (memory for peripheral details that occurred when studying items) to get a better understanding of how people prioritize learning information. In this investigation, participants encoded words associated with a range of values (binned into higher, medium, and lower value in Experiment 1, and into higher and lower value in Experiment 2) for a subsequent memory test that measured item memory (Is this item old or new?) as well as both objective context memory (memory for an objectively verifiable contextual detail: In which voice was this item spoken?) and subjective context memory (How many visual, auditory, and extraneous thoughts/feelings can you remember associated with this item?). Results indicated that value influenced item memory but had no effect on objective context memory in both Experiments. In Experiment 2, results showed better subjective context memory for multiple episodic details for higher-value relative to lower-value materials. Overall, these findings suggest that value has a strong influence over some aspects of memory, but not others. This work gives a richer understanding of how people prioritize learning more important over less important information.

Distinctiveness and priority in free recall of words

Participants recalled low- and high-priority words varying in distinctiveness in three experiments. Word priority was established by assigning point values based on font colour or conceptual category. Word distinctiveness varied across three list structures: homogeneous lists of words (same colour or category), 50/50 lists containing words in two font colours or from two categories, and isolation lists in which a word was isolated in serial position two either by colour (Experiments 1 and 2) or category (Experiment 3). Word priority was established before list presentation in Experiment 1 and after list presentation in Experiments 2 and 3. When colour priority was established before list presentation, participants recalled high-priority words better than low-priority words across all list structures. Early isolation enhanced recall for high-priority words but impaired recall for low-priority words. When colour priority was established after list presentation, neither priority nor distinctiveness enhanced recall. When category priority was established after list presentation, participants recalled high-priority words better than low-priority words, and isolation only enhanced recall when it was combined with high priority. We concluded that priority and distinctiveness combine to produce the early isolation effect, and that encoding and retrieval processes interact to enhance memory for high-priority and distinctive events.

Reward motivation influences response bias on a recognition memory task

Reward-motivated memory has been studied extensively in psychology and neuroscience. Many recognition studies follow the same type of paradigm: stimuli are cued at encoding with high or low reward values which indicate the amount the stimulus is worth if successfully recognized on a subsequent memory test. Each incorrect endorsement of a lure at retrieval is penalized with an arbitrary value between the high and low reward value, resulting in a single false alarm rate. Studies employing this type of paradigm have reported higher hit rates for high value items compared to low value items, but generally hit rate is the only measure of memory that is reported as a function of reward value. It is currently not clear what aspects of the experimental design lead to these memory effects, and other measures, like discriminability and response bias, cannot be properly calculated when there is only a single false alarm rate, but we hypothesize that these are also susceptible to motivational manipulations. To test how reward anticipation might influence memory and response bias in this type of task, we created a novel paradigm that allowed us to calculate both by associating rewards with categories (indoor vs. outdoor scenes), thus calculating separate false alarm rate as well as hit rate at each level of reward. We report results of three experiments that varied rewards and penalties for correct and error responses for the category items. In two experiments, we replicated prior findings of higher hit rates for high compared to low reward items, but consistently across three experiments, when d' was calculated, we found no difference in memory discriminability as a function of reward. Further, Experiment 1 we found that response bias was more conservative for low reward items: participants were more likely to endorse a 'new' response to low compared to high reward items. This effect was significantly reduced in Experiment 2 and eliminated in Experiment 3 when the reward-penalty structure was manipulated to reduce bias. Our findings reveal that reward motivation can influence decisional biases thought to be independent of memory processes. The amount of the reward value for correct responses and the amount of the penalty for incorrect responses should be considered when designing experimental paradigms to study motivation-cognition interactions.

Influence of Reward Motivation on Directed Forgetting in Younger and Older Adults

An important feature of the memory system is the ability to forget, but aging is associated with declines in the ability to intentionally forget potentially due to declines in cognitive control. Despite cognitive deficits, older adults are sensitive to affective manipulations, such as reward motivation, and reward anticipation can improve older adults' memory performance. The goal of the current studies was to examine the effect of reward motivation on directed remembering and forgetting. Participants were healthy CloudResearch/Turk Prime workers aged 18-35 and 60-85. In Experiment 1, we conducted a typical item-method directed forgetting task using neutral words presented one at a time followed by a to-be-remembered (TBR) or to-be-forgotten (TBF) cue. A recognition memory test followed that included all words from the encoding task, as well as new words. We replicated prior findings of better memory for TBR compared to TBF items, but not typical age-related differences in recognition of TBF items. In Experiments 2-4, we repeated this paradigm except that in the second block of trials, each word was presented with a high ($0.75) or low ($0.01) reward cue indicating the value that could be earned if the item was successfully Remembered or Forgotten (depending on cue). During recognition, correct responses to target items (both TBR and TBF) resulted in the associated reward, but incorrect "old" responses resulted in a loss of $0.50. In three experiments, high rewards led to better memory for younger and older adults compared to low rewards, regardless of the directed cue to remember or forget the word. In Experiments 3 and 4, older adults showed typical deficits in directed forgetting, but this was across reward conditions. For older adults, there was no evidence that including reward motivation improved cognitive control abilities as high value reward anticipation did not improve directed forgetting. Instead, in line with hypotheses, high compared to low value reward anticipation leads to engagement of processes that result in better memory regardless of the TBR or TBF cue, and reward anticipation bolsters memory in a relatively automatic, rather than strategic, fashion that overrides one's ability to cognitively control encoding processes.