Shift happens: Aging alters the content but not the organization of memory for complex events

Abstract

Cognitive aging research has focused on comparing episodic memory accuracy between young and old adults. Less work has described qualitative shifts in how episodic memories are encoded and recalled. This is especially relevant for memories of real-world experiences, since there is immense variability in which details can be accessed and organized into a coherent narrative. To address this knowledge gap, we investigated age effects on the organization and content of memory for complex events. In two independent samples (N=45; 60), young and older adults encoded and recalled a short-movie. We scored the recollections for recall accuracy, temporal organization (temporal contiguity, forward asymmetry) and biases in memory content (perceptual, conceptual). In both samples, despite no age-effects on recall accuracy nor on metrics of organization, aging led to a stronger emphasis on conceptual content. Our results indicate that rather than a deficit, age-related differences in episodic recall reflect distinctions in what details younger and older adults assemble from the past events.