Predictors of Memory in Young-old and Old-old Adults

Abstract

A contextualist approach was adopted to assess cognitive functioning and psychological well-being in a representative sample of young-old (60-74 years, n = 107) and old-old (75-92 years, n = 58) women and men in an effort to: (1) delineate age and gender similarities and differences within this elderly cohort; and (2) identify individual differences predictive of remembering. Measures of subjective well-being included morale, depression, and perceived control. Cognitive measures included intentional story recall and incidental symbol memory, rate of information processing, and cognitive flexibility. Health status, gender, and education were also investigated. Decrements were observed in intentional and incidental memory, rate of information processing, solution of Raven's Coloured Progressive Matrices, and Mini-Mental Status Examination, but not on accuracy of information processing, estimates of intelligence, well-being measures, education, or health status. The intentional story memory of women was more accurate than that of men. Education and gender, along with processing speed and mental ability, as indexed by the Raven coloured matrices, predicted story memory. These results of a representative sample validate recurrent trends seen in previous convenience samples. They extend the understanding of the relationship between ageing and cognition by identifying the role of processing resource, psychosocial, and demographic factors in modulating memory performance and highlighting methodological factors which must temper interpretation of these relationships.