Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of contributors
- Preface
- Part I Adult cognitive abilities in the laboratory and in real-life settings: Basic theoretical and methodological issues
- Part IA Systematic approaches to laboratory and real-world research
- Part IB Combining laboratory and real-world research
- Part II Cognition in adulthood and late life: Findings in real-life settings
- Part IIA Everyday cognitive abilities
- Part IIB Concomitant influences
- Part III Cognitive enhancement and aging: Clinical and educational applications
- Part IIIA Issues and perspectives
- 28 Varieties of memory compensation by older adults in episodic remembering
- 29 Improvement with cognitive training: Which old dogs learn what tricks?
- Part IIIB Enhancement approaches
- Part IIIC Designing programs for cognitive rehabilitation
- Subject index
- Author index
28 - Varieties of memory compensation by older adults in episodic remembering
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 October 2013
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of contributors
- Preface
- Part I Adult cognitive abilities in the laboratory and in real-life settings: Basic theoretical and methodological issues
- Part IA Systematic approaches to laboratory and real-world research
- Part IB Combining laboratory and real-world research
- Part II Cognition in adulthood and late life: Findings in real-life settings
- Part IIA Everyday cognitive abilities
- Part IIB Concomitant influences
- Part III Cognitive enhancement and aging: Clinical and educational applications
- Part IIIA Issues and perspectives
- 28 Varieties of memory compensation by older adults in episodic remembering
- 29 Improvement with cognitive training: Which old dogs learn what tricks?
- Part IIIB Enhancement approaches
- Part IIIC Designing programs for cognitive rehabilitation
- Subject index
- Author index
Summary
In a recent paper (Bäckman, 1985a), I introduced a conceptual frame of reference for research on adult aging and episodic remembering based on the superordinate concepts of compensation and recoding. This chapter constitutes an extension and elaboration of the framework proposed there. One basic point of departure for the discussion here concerns the fact that older adults possess the ability to compensate for various deficits in episodic remembering through different types of contextual and cognitive support. A classification scheme comprising three basic categories of memory compensation in later adulthood is presented: compensation via experimenter-provided support, compensation via inherent task properties, and compensation via cognitive-support systems. These categories deal with proximal interactions between the capabilities of the learner and the actual task demands. It is also suggested that younger adults, because of superior ability in various recoding operations, are less dependent on contextual and cognitive support in order to remember successfully. “Recoding ” is here defined as “all the processes and operations an individual possesses that, when applied, bring about a richer and more elaborate representation of the initially registered information to be remembered ” (Tulving, 1983).
It is argued that a multifactorial approach is a necessary prerequisite for gaining the best understanding of what happens with memory as one gets older. Accordingly, some aspects of memory compensation in later adulthood other than those falling under the aforementioned categories are described.
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- Everyday Cognition in Adulthood and Late Life , pp. 509 - 544Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1989
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