The role of attention and ageing in the retrieval dynamics of value-directed remembering

Strategic learning of people's names as a function of expected utility in young and older adults

People's names are challenging to learn at all ages. Because people somewhat know this, they might spontaneously use cost-efficient encoding strategies and devote more resources to learn names that are most likely to be useful. To test this hypothesis, we created a pseudo-incidental learning situation in which young and older participants were exposed to 12 characters from a TV show and reviewed face-name-instrument triplets. Characters' probability of appearance was specified via importance labels (main or secondary characters, bit parts). A surprised cued recall test showed that young adults performed better than older ones, and that semantic information was better recalled than names. Consistent with cost-efficient encoding strategies, participants in both groups recalled names and semantic information about most important characters better. Interestingly, there were large individual differences: people who reported using cost-efficient strategies performed better. At the individual level, memory advantages for most important characters' names and semantic information correlated.

Age differences in memory for names and occupations associated with faces: the effects of assigned and self-perceived social importance

It has been documented that older adults' memory deficits can be reduced for information depicted as personally and socially important (e.g., Hargis & Castel, 2017 [Younger and older adults' associative memory for social information: The role of information importance. Psychology and Aging, 32(4), 325-330]). The current study aimed to further assess the effects of both arbitrarily assigned and self-perceived importance in younger and older adults' memory for names (low in schematic support) and occupations (high in schematic support) associated with faces. Participants studied the same 16 face-name-occupation triplets (with neutral facial expressions) across four blocks, each including a free recall of names and occupations. At the end, they completed a cued recall of names and occupations. The faces were arbitrarily cued as socially important (i.e., with an orange frame) or unimportant (e.g., without a frame). The perceived social importance was assessed by rating all the triplets based on a 10-point Likert Scale (1 = least and 10 = most important) at the end. The results showed that age-related memory deficits were reduced or even eliminated for occupations (high in schematic support) relative to names (low in schematic support), especially in the free recall of faces self-perceived as important. In other words, the combination of schematic support and self-perceived importance can effectively mitigate older adults' memory deficit.

Responsible remembering: The role of metacognition, forgetting, attention, and retrieval in adaptive memory

In our everyday lives, we must remember important information, especially if there are consequences for forgetting. In this review, I discuss recent work on responsible remembering: the strategic and effortful prioritization of important information with consequences for forgetting. Thus far, research regarding responsible remembering has revealed several key factors and mechanisms that work together to enhance memory for important information that will continue to be refined: the identification and selection of what to remember (metacognitive reflectivity), the forgetting of less important information to facilitate memory for items that do need to be remembered (responsible forgetting), the functional prioritization of attention at the expense of competing factors (responsible attention), and the selective recall of important information via efficient retrieval strategies (responsible retrieval). Together, these functions form a cohesive system that aims to selectively prioritize, encode, and recall information that is deemed important based on its anticipated utility or the consequences of forgetting, and considering the importance of information may be a critical memory adaptation as we age. Specifically, if younger and older adults learn to self-assess and prioritize important information that has negative consequences if forgotten, engage in strategic forgetting, efficiently allocate their attentional resources, and utilize effective retrieval operations, memory for said important information can be enhanced.

The limited memory of value following value directed encoding

Items associated with higher values during encoding are later recognized and recalled better than are lower valued items. During recall paradigms, these value directed encoding (VDE) effects heavily depend upon learned strategies acquired during repeated testing with earnings feedback. However, because VDE effects also occur in single test recognition designs, precluding such learning, it has been suggested that high value may automatically induce good encoding. We tested this by manipulating encoding instructions (Experiments 1a and 1b) and manipulating concurrent levels of processing (LOP) requirements during encoding (Experiment 2a and 2b). Two main findings emerged. First, subject initiated strategies played a dominant role in VDE effects with little evidence for automaticity. This was demonstrated in Experiment 1 by a more than three-fold increase in the VDE recognition effect when instructions specifically encouraged selective elaboration of high-value items. It was also shown by the complete elimination of VDE recognition effects in Experiment 2 when LOP tasks were concurrently performed during encoding. Critically, the blocking of VDE effects occurred even though a catch trial procedure verified that value was being processed during encoding and remained even when subjects had unlimited time to process the materials during encoding. Second, the data showed, for the first time, that when subjects attempted to specify the value of recognized items, they heavily depended upon a recognition heuristic in which increases in recognition strength, even when nondiagnostic, were inferred to reflect high encoding value. The tendency for subjects to conflate recognition strength and value may have important implications for behavioral economics.

Age-Related Differences in Framing Selective Memory in Terms of Gains and Losses

We examined whether framing younger and older adults learning goals in terms of maximizing gains or minimizing losses impacts their ability to selectively remember high-value information. Specifically, we presented younger and older adults with lists of words paired with point values and participants were either told that they would receive the value associated with each word if they recalled it on a test or that they would lose the points associated with each word if they failed to recall it on the test. We also asked participants to predict the likelihood of recalling each word to determine if younger and older adults were metacognitively aware of any potential framing effects. Results revealed that older adults expected to be more selective when their goals were framed in terms of losses, but younger adults expected to be more selective when their goals were framed in terms of gains. However, this was not the case as both younger and older adults were more selective for high-value information when their goals were framed in terms of maximizing gains compared with minimizing losses. Thus, the framing of learning goals can impact metacognitive decisions and subsequent memory in both younger and older adults.

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.

Memory and automatic processing of valuable information in younger and older adults

People often engage in the selective remembering of valuable or important information, whether strategic and/or automatic. We examined potential age-related differences in the automatic processing of value during encoding on later remembering by presenting participants with words paired with point values (range: 1-10 twice or 1-20) to remember for a later test. On the first three lists, participants were told that they would receive the points associated with each word if they recalled it on the test (their goal was to maximize their score). On the last three lists, we told participants that all words were worth the same number of points if recalled on the tests, thus making the point value paired with each word meaningless. Results revealed that selective memory may be impaired in older adults using procedures with larger value ranges. Additionally, we demonstrated that the automatic effects of value may have a greater effect on younger adults relative to older adults, but there may be instances where older adults also exhibit these automatic effects. Finally, strategic and automatic processes may not be related within each learner, suggesting that these processes may rely on different cognitive mechanisms. This indicates that these processes could be underpinned by distinct cognitive mechanisms: strategic processes might engage higher-level cognitive operations like imagery, while automatic processes appear to be more perceptually driven.

Age-Related Differences in Overcoming Interference When Selectively Remembering Important Information

We examined the effects of interference on value-based memory in younger and older adults by presenting participants with lists of words paired with point values counting toward their score if recalled. In Experiment 1, we created a situation where there was a buildup of interference such that participants could recall words from any studied list to earn points. However, to increase participants' motivation to combat interference, we told participants that if they recalled words from previously studied lists, those words would be worth double the original point value of the word. In Experiment 2, to examine age-related differences in the absence of any interference, participants studied and were tested on the same set of words throughout several study-test cycles. The buildup of interference caused by participants needing to recall both just-studied and previously studied words in Experiment 1 impaired selectivity in older adults relative to younger adults and this effect was particularly pronounced when considering the recall of just prior-list words. However, in the absence of interference, there was not an overall recall deficit or any selectivity impairments in older adults. Thus, proactive and retroactive interference seem to be largely responsible for age-related deficits in selective memory for important information.

Read carefully, because this is important! How value-driven strategies impact sentence memory

Little is understood about how people strategically process and remember important but complex information, such as sentences. In the current study, we asked whether people can effectively prioritize memory for sentences as a function of their relative importance (operationalized as a reward point value) and whether they do so, in part, by changing their sentence processing strategies when value information is available in advance. We adapted the value-directed remembering paradigm (Castel, Psychol Learn Motiv 48:225-270, 2007) for sentences that varied in constraint and predictability. Each sentence was associated with a high or low value for subsequent free recall (whole sentence) and recognition (sentence-final words) tests. Value information appeared after or before each sentence as a between-subject manipulation. Regardless of condition, we observed that high-value sentences were recalled more often than low-value sentences, showing that people can strategically prioritize their encoding of sentences. However, memory patterns differed depending on when value information was available. Recall for high-value sentences that ended unexpectedly (and therefore violated one's predictions) was reduced in the Before compared to the After condition. Before condition participants also showed a greater tendency to false alarm to lures (words that were the predicted - but not obtained - ending) from strongly constraining sentences. These observations suggest that when people try to prioritize sentence-level information that they know is valuable, the reading strategies they employ may paradoxically lead to worse memory.

Does point value structure influence measures of memory selectivity?

ABSTRACTIn reward-based learning and value-directed remembering, many different value structures for the to-be-remembered information have been used by researchers. I was interested in whether different scoring structures used in a value-directed remembering task impact measures of memory selectivity. Participants studied lists of words paired with point values and some lists included words paired with values ranging from 1 to 20, 1 to 10 (repeating twice), either a high value (10 points) or a low value (1 point), and either a high value (10 points), a medium value (5 points) or a low value (1 point). Results suggest that (1) in tests of free recall, if using a continuous value scale, the range of values matters in terms of selective memory, (2) analysing the selectivity index can yield different results than modelling item-level recall using point values (and the latter may be a preferable approach), (3) measures of selectivity using different value structures may lack construct validity when testing memory via recognition tests, and (4) the effect of value on memory is much larger on recall than recognition tests. Thus, I suggest that researchers carefully consider and justify the value structure used when examining selective memory for valuable information in list learning tasks.

The performance of serious games for enhancing attention in cognitively impaired older adults

Attention, which is the process of noticing the surrounding environment and processing information, is one of the cognitive functions that deteriorate gradually as people grow older. Games that are used for other than entertainment, such as improving attention, are often referred to as serious games. This study examined the effectiveness of serious games on attention among elderly individuals suffering from cognitive impairment. A systematic review and meta-analyses of randomized controlled trials were carried out. A total of 10 trials ultimately met all eligibility criteria of the 559 records retrieved. The synthesis of very low-quality evidence from three trials, as analyzed in a meta-study, indicated that serious games outperform no/passive interventions in enhancing attention in cognitively impaired older adults (P < 0.001). Additionally, findings from two other studies demonstrated that serious games are more effective than traditional cognitive training in boosting attention among cognitively impaired older adults. One study also concluded that serious games are better than traditional exercises in enhancing attention. Serious games can enhance attention in cognitively impaired older adults. However, given the low quality of the evidence, the limited number of participants in most studies, the absence of some comparative studies, and the dearth of studies included in the meta-analyses, the results remain inconclusive. Thus, until the aforementioned limitations are rectified in future research, serious games should serve as a supplement, rather than a replacement, to current interventions.

Value restructures the organization of free recall

A large body of research illustrates the prioritization of goal-relevant information in memory; however, it is unclear how reward-related memories are organized. Using a rewarded free recall paradigm, we investigated how reward motivation structures the organization of memory around temporal and higher-order contexts. To better understand these processes, we simulated our findings using a reward-modulated variant of the Context Maintenance and Retrieval Model (CMR; Polyn et al., 2009). In the first study, we found that reward did not influence temporal clustering, but instead shifted the organization of memory based on reward category. Further, we showed that a reward-modulated learning rate and source features of CMR most accurately depict reward's enhancement on memory and clustering by value. In a second study, we showed that reward-memory effects can exist in both extended periods of sustained motivation and frequent changes in motivation, by showing equivalent reward effects using mixed- and pure-list motivation manipulations. However, we showed that a reward-modulated learning rate in isolation can support reward's enhancement of memory in pure-list contexts. Overall, we conclude that reward-related memories are adaptively organized by higher-order value information, and contextual binding to value contexts may only be necessary when rewards are intermittent versus sustained.

Analysis of the Protective Effect of Infection Controllers Supervising Third-Party Personnel Entering and Leaving Shanghai Fangcang Shelter Hospital

Objective

To analyze the impact of the new supervision and management methods of infection controllers on the protection of third-party personnel entering and leaving Shanghai Fangcang shelter hospital, to provide a reference for the management of third-party personnel in Fangcang shelter hospitals.

Methods

A total of 200 third-party personnel received with traditional supervision and management methods, and 156 received new supervision and management methods from the Fangcang shelter hospital of the Shanghai International Convention and Exhibition Center. The sociodemographic characteristics of third-party personnel, including gender, age, education level, work experience in fighting the epidemic with safety awareness, was analyzed. The effects of the two different management modes on the protection of third-party personnel were statistically analyzed by the Chi-square test or logistic regression analysis.

Results

There were statistically significant differences in the incidence of infection among third-party personnel in terms of age, education level, work experience in fighting the epidemic in traditional supervision and management group, and whether they accepted the new supervision and management model had statistically significant differences (p <0.05). The main causes of incorrect put on and take off protective clothing, such as wrong way to detach the face screen, wrong way to remove goggles, wrong way to undress protective clothing, wrong way to take off the shoe cover, hand washing steps omitted, are that causes infection of third-party personnel (p <0.05).

Conclusion

The new supervision and management model can reduce the infection rate of third-party personnel in Fangcang shelter hospitals through planned and purposeful training in terms of different age groups, education levels, work experience, and acceptance of protection knowledge.

Framing effects in value-directed remembering

Changing how an issue is framed can influence both decision-making and metacognition, but framing a memory task in terms of gains and losses could also impact how learners prioritize information according to its value or importance. We investigated how framing task instructions and feedback in terms of gains and losses influences learners’ ability to selectively remember valuable information at the expense of low-value information. Specifically, we presented learners with to-be-remembered words paired with point values and either told participants how many points they scored (the sum of the values of recalled words) or lost (the sum of the values of not-recalled words) on each list, with participants’ goal being to maximize their scores or minimize their losses, respectively. Overall, participants were more selective for high-value words when their goals were framed in terms of point gains compared with when their goals were framed in terms of losses, and learners’ metacognitive predictions of performance (JOLs) generally mapped onto this trend. Thus, framing in terms of losses for forgetting can reduce memory selectivity, perhaps because even small losses are salient, indicating that framing effects are not limited to decision-making but can influence memory and metacognitive processes as well.

Responsible attention: the effect of divided attention on metacognition and responsible remembering

We are frequently exposed to situations where we need to remember important information when our attentional resources are divided; however, it was previously unclear how divided attention impacts responsible remembering: selective memory for important information to avoid consequences for forgetting. In the present study, we examined participants' memory for valuable information, metacognitive accuracy, and goal-directed cognitive control mechanisms when under full and divided attention. In Experiment 1, participants were presented with words paired with point values counting towards their score if recalled but were required to "bet" on whether they would remember it. Results revealed that selective memory for high-value information was impaired under divided attention. In Experiment 2, we presented participants with unassociated word pairs and solicited metacognitive predictions of recall (i.e., JOLs). Results revealed that the relative accuracy of participants' metacognitive judgments was enhanced when studying under divided attention. Experiment 3 examined cognitive control mechanisms to selectively remember goal-relevant information at the expense of information that could potentially be offloaded (i.e., responsible forgetting). Results revealed that participants' ability to strategically prioritize goal-relevant information at the expense of information that could be offloaded was preserved under divided attention. Collectively, responsible attention encompasses how attentional resources impact one's ability to engage in responsible remembering and we demonstrate that responsible remembering can be impaired, enhanced, and preserved in certain contexts.

Disrupted Value-Directed Strategic Processing in Individuals with Mild Cognitive Impairment: Behavioral and Neural Correlates

Value-directed strategic processing involves attending to higher-value information while inhibiting lower-value information. This preferential processing is relatively preserved in cognitively normal older adults but is impaired in individuals with dementia. No studies have investigated whether value-directed strategic processing is disrupted in earlier stages of cognitive decline, namely, mild cognitive impairment (MCI). The current study examined behavioral and EEG differences in value-directed strategic processing between 18 individuals with MCI and 18 cognitively normal older controls using a value-directed list learning task. Behaviorally, individuals with MCI recalled fewer total and high-value words compared to controls, but no group differences were observed in low-value word recall. Neurally, individuals with MCI had reduced theta synchronization relative to controls between 100 and 200 ms post-stimulus. Greater alpha desynchronization was observed for high- versus low-value words between 300 and 400 ms in controls but not in the MCI group. The groups showed some processing similarities, with greater theta synchronization for low-value words between 700 and 800 ms and greater alpha desynchronization for high-value words between 500 and 1100 ms. Overall, value-directed strategic processing was compromised in individuals with MCI on both behavioral and neural measures relative to controls. These findings add to the growing body of literature on differences between typical cognitive aging and MCI.