What-Where-When Memory and Encoding Strategies in Healthy Aging

Older adults exhibit disproportionate impairments in memory for item-associations. These impairments may stem from an inability to self-initiate deep encoding strategies. The present study investigates this using the “Treasure-Hunt Task”; a What-Where-When style episodic memory test that requires individuals to “hide” items around complex scenes. This task separately assesses memory for item, location and temporal order, as well as bound what-where-when information. The results suggest that older adults are able to ameliorate integration memory deficits by using self-initiated encoding strategies when these are externally located and therefore place reduced demands on working memory and attentional resources.This study was funded by an MRC Centenary Early Career Fellowship and a Sarah Woodhead Fellowship from Girton College, Cambridge.This is the final version of the article. It first appeared from Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press via https://doi.org/10.1101/lm.040840.11