Age, criterion flexibility, and item recognition

Abstract

We examined young and older adults' ability to flexibly adapt response criterion on a recognition test when the probability that a test item had been studied was cued by test color. One word color signaled that the probability of the test item being old was 70% and a second color signaled that the probability of the test item being new was 70%. Young and older adults demonstrated similar levels of criterion shifting in response to color cues. Moreover, although both young and older adults were slowed when test-item color incorrectly predicted test-item status, the extent of slowing did not differ across age group. Putative measures of cognitive control predicted recognition accuracy but not the degree to which criterion changed with test-item color. These results suggest that adaptive criterion shifting does not tax cognitive control or, if it does require effort, may be no more onerous for older than for young adults.

Preserved criterion flexibility in item recognition in older adults.

“…Both young and older adults had more liberal criteria when instructed to base recognition on category membership rather than on specific items, but young adults showed a somewhat greater shift than did older adults. On the other hand, neither Konkel et al (2015) nor North et al (2017) observed age differences in ability to shift criterion when the likelihood that test items were old or new was cued on each trial. Konkel et al (2015) reported that older adults were slowed more than young adults when cues were invalid, but North et al (2017) did not replicate this finding.…”

“…The fact that young and older adults did not differ in general response bias in the present study, then, might be attributable to the fact that levels of discrimination of old from new test items were similar across age, leaving open the possibility that age differences in criterion placement might manifest under conditions in which larger age differences in discrimination are observed. The extant literature, however, suggests a variable relationship between age differences in sensitivity and age differences in response criterion across studies (e.g., Aizpurua & Koutstaal, 2010; Cassidy & Gutchess, 2016; Criss et al, 2014; Konkel et al, 2015; Marquie & Baracat, 2000; North et al, 2017; Pendergrass et al, 2012).…”

“…Most studies of recognition memory comparing young and older adults have been concerned with documenting age differences in sensitivity. The extent to which decision processing affecting general tendencies to respond liberally (endorsing more test items as previously studied) or conservatively remain constant across age is at present not fully understood (for summaries see Cassidy & Gutchess, 2016; Criss, Aue, & Kılıç, 2014; Konkel, Selmeczy, & Dobbins, 2015; North, Olfman, Caldera, Munoz, & Light, 2017).…”

Not All People Are Cut Out for Strategic Criterion Shifting

“…Researchers have identified experimental manipulations that can reliably and robustly induce subjects to adopt a different criterion without affecting their discrimination ability, including revealing the base rate of old items, creating uneven monetary payoffs and penalties for “old” versus “new” responses, or simply warning subjects to avoid either misses (incorrect “new” judgments) or false alarms (incorrect “old” judgments; see Hockley, 2011, for a review). Recent research has examined various properties of criterion shifting, including the amount of effort that may be necessary to adapt a criterion (North, Olfman, Caldera, Munoz, & Light, 2018; Starns & Olchowski, 2015).…”

Age-Related Effects on Cross-Modal Duration Perception

“…Conversely, older adults may be less flexible in adjusting decision criteria and always used a 'respond to auditory' strategy. However, studies reporting age-related differences on temporal multisensory tasks (McGovern et al, 2014;Setti et al, 2013) and item-recognition tasks (North et al, 2018) reveal similar response criteria but different perceptual sensitivities between young and old adults. While it is likely that reduced precision in detecting asynchronies is a strong driver of the current results, flexibility in updating response criterion could be task-dependent and a contributing factor.…”