Centre for Sleep and Cognition, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore.
Psychol Aging. 2021 Jun;36(4):463-474. doi: 10.1037/pag0000586. Epub 2021 Mar 1.
Age-related cognitive deficits may be diminished by tapping into prior knowledge structures. We investigated age-related differences in the formation and updating of schemas and examined whether the memory benefits of recently acquired schemas would be preserved in older adults. Data were collected from 60 older adults ( = 66.2, SD = 9.3 years) and 59 adolescents recruited from Singapore's top schools ( = 16.6, SD = 0.9 years) who learnt the age hierarchy of six galaxies to criterion by viewing neighboring pairs one at a time, for example A-B, D-E, C-D, enabling the formation of a schema via transitive inference (i.e., if > > > D). Once learning reached criterion, two new sets of galaxies were presented: one comprising four galaxies from the schema intercalated with four new galaxies (schema condition) and the other comprising eight unfamiliar galaxies (no schema condition). Participants were then tested on both neighboring pairs (noninference) and inference pairs: (B-D, B-E, C-E). Compared with adolescents, older adults required a significantly higher number of learning blocks to successfully form a schema. Nonetheless, the acquired schema significantly aided relational memory and facilitated the making of novel inferences in older adults. This schema benefit was particularly pronounced in supporting novel inferences, boosting performance in older adults to levels comparable with adolescents (59% vs. 61%). These results suggest that older adults can effectively form new schemas with extended practice. Schema-driven memory benefits are preserved with aging and appear to mitigate age-related memory deficits, optimizing cognitive performance in making novel inferences. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).
年龄相关的认知缺陷可以通过利用先前的知识结构来减轻。我们研究了在图式的形成和更新方面的年龄差异，并检验了最近获得的图式的记忆益处是否会在老年人中保留。数据来自新加坡顶尖学校的 60 名老年人（平均年龄 66.2 岁，标准差 9.3 岁）和 59 名青少年（平均年龄 16.6 岁，标准差 0.9 岁）。他们通过一次观看一对相邻的星系（例如 A-B、D-E、C-D）来学习六个星系的年龄层次结构，从而达到标准，这使得通过传递推理形成图式（即，如果 > > > > D）。一旦学习达到标准，就会呈现两组新的星系：一组由四个处于图式中的星系和四个新的星系组成（图式条件），另一组由八个不熟悉的星系组成（无图式条件）。然后，参与者接受了关于相邻对（非推理）和推理对（B-D、B-E、C-E）的测试。与青少年相比，老年人需要更多的学习块才能成功地形成图式。尽管如此，所获得的图式显著地辅助了关系记忆，并在老年人中促进了新的推理。这种图式效益在支持新的推理方面尤为显著，提高了老年人的表现，使其与青少年的水平相当（59%比 61%）。这些结果表明，老年人可以通过扩展练习有效地形成新的图式。随着年龄的增长，图式驱动的记忆益处得以保留，似乎减轻了与年龄相关的记忆缺陷，优化了在进行新推理时的认知表现。（PsycInfo 数据库记录（c）2021 APA，保留所有权利）。
