Faculty of Psychology, Southwest University, Chongqing, People's Republic of China.
Key Laboratory of Mental Health, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, People's Republic of China.
Memory. 2022 Nov;30(10):1240-1247. doi: 10.1080/09658211.2022.2099901. Epub 2022 Jul 14.
Memory updating is an adaptive function that requires people's registry of changes of episodes. However, the research on the role of prior knowledge on memory updating among older adults is scant. We instructed young and older adults to learn two sets of pairs with overlapping scene (A) on Day 1 (A-B) and Day 2 (A-C) and tested the competing memories on Day 3. We further manipulated the schema-congruency between item (B/C) and scene (A). Young adults performed comparatively well in the A-B and A-C memory tests, and showed no difference under different congruency conditions. However, memory updating among older adults was moderated by prior knowledge, with better memory performance in A-C test relative to A-B test when the to-be-updated item C was schema-congruent, however, with poorer memory performance in the A-C test when the to-be-updated item is schema-incongruent. This study advances the understanding that prior knowledge significantly contributes to memory updating among older adults. They would experience retroactive interference when the to-be-updated memories were consistent with their prior knowledge, yet proactive interference when the to-be-updated memories were inconsistent with their prior knowledge. Meanwhile, prior knowledge among young adults does not affect memory updating, given that their memory patterns are consistent across congruency conditions.
记忆更新是一种适应性功能，需要人们记录事件的变化。然而，关于老年人先前知识对记忆更新作用的研究却很少。我们指导年轻人和老年人在第一天（A-B）和第二天（A-C）学习两组具有重叠场景的对子，并在第三天测试竞争记忆。我们进一步操纵项目（B/C）和场景（A）之间的图式一致性。年轻人在 A-B 和 A-C 记忆测试中表现相对较好，并且在不同的一致性条件下没有差异。然而，老年人的记忆更新受到先前知识的调节，当要更新的项目 C 与图式一致时，A-C 测试的记忆表现优于 A-B 测试，而当要更新的项目与图式不一致时，A-C 测试的记忆表现则较差。这项研究表明，先前知识对老年人的记忆更新有重要贡献。当要更新的记忆与他们的先前知识一致时，他们会经历回溯干扰，但当要更新的记忆与他们的先前知识不一致时，他们会经历前摄干扰。同时，由于年轻人的记忆模式在一致性条件下是一致的，因此他们的先前知识不会影响记忆更新。
