Metamemory and Cognitive Aging

Abstract

Metamemory is defined as cognitions about memory and related processes. Related terms in the literature include metacognition, self-evaluation, memory self-efficacy, executive function, self-regulation, cognitive control, and strategic behavior. Metamemory is a multidimensional construct that includes knowledge about how memory works, beliefs about memory (including beliefs about one’s own memory such as memory self-efficacy), monitoring of memory and related processes and products, and metacognitive control, in which adaptive changes in processing approaches and strategies may be contemplated if monitoring of memory processes (encoding, retention, retrieval) indicates that alternative strategies may be required. Older adults generally believe that their memory has declined and that, on average, they have less control over memory and lower memory self-efficacy than young and middle-aged adults. Many but not all aspects of online memory monitoring are well preserved in old age, such as the ability to discriminate between information that has been learned versus not learned. A major exception concerns confidence judgments concerning whether recognition memory decisions are correct; older adults are more prone to high-confidence memory errors, believing they are recognizing something they have not encountered previously. The evidence regarding metacognitive control is more mixed, with some hints that older adults do not use monitoring to adjust control behaviors (e.g., devoting more time and effort to studying items they believe have not yet been well-learned). However, any age deficits in self-regulation based on memory monitoring or adaptive strategy use can probably be addressed through instructions, practice, or training. In general, older adults seem capable of exerting metacognitive control in memory studies, although they may not necessarily do so without explicit support or prompting.

The Power of Perception: Beliefs About Memory Ability Uniquely Contribute to Memory Performance and Quality of Life in Adults Aging with Traumatic Brain Injury

“…However, we did not find clear demographic or injury-related correlates accounting for these variations. Despite well documented age-related declines in MSE in the general population (Hertzog & Curley, 2018;McDougall & Kang, 2003;Robin Lea West & Berry, 1994), there was no evidence for this effect in our sample. In fact, slightly greater MSE was observed with increasing age, and this relationship disappeared when controlling for other demographics and injury variables.…”

Increased alpha suppression with age during involuntary memory retrieval

“…We did not observe a difference in participants' retrospective reports of memory between the voluntary and involuntary conditions. This may have been due to poor metacognition, particularly in the older group (Hertzog & Curley, 2018; Palmer et al., 2014), potentially exacerbated by the fact that participants heard each sound twice during sound localization. Participants may have been confused if they experienced a memory for one of those instances, but not the other.…”

“…We expected no age difference in the number of retrospectively reported memories in the involuntary retrieval condition, given previous work showing that involuntary memory is relatively preserved with age (Berntsen et al., 2015, 2017; Schlagman et al., 2009). However, given previous demonstrations of age‐related declines in metacognition (Hertzog & Curley, 2018; Palmer et al., 2014) and the retrospective nature of these reports, it is possible that age differences may emerge on these retrospective memory reports even in the involuntary condition.…”

The relationship between response dynamics and the formation of confidence varies across the lifespan

“…Metacognitive performance across the adult lifespan seems to depend on the cognitive domain being assessed. In the memory domain, evidence points toward largely preserved metacognitive abilities with older age ( Dodson et al, 2007 ; Hertzog and Curley, 2018 ; Zakrzewski et al, 2021 ; although for aspects of memory metacognition that declined with age, see Chua et al, 2009 ; Tauber and Dunlosky, 2012 ). In the perceptual domain, in contrast, tasks require fundamentally different cognitive processes and research showed a rather robust decline in metacognitive performance across age ( Rabbitt, 1990 ; Palmer et al, 2014 ; Niessen et al, 2017 ; Wessel et al, 2018 ).…”