Effects of multifactorial memory training in old age: generalizability across tasks and individuals.
This study examined the generalizability of gains following multifactorial memory training in healthy older adults across tasks and individuals; 46 subjects were randomly assigned to either a control group or to a multifactorial training group (encoding operations, attentional functions, relaxation). The criterion task was recall of concrete words, and there were three transfer tasks: recall of objects, recall of subject-performed tasks, and recall of abstract words. Results indicated that multifactorial training gave rise to performance gains in the criterion task that were sustained after 6 months. Transfer of gains and maintenance of transfer were observed for object recall only, indicating a restricted range of generalizability. Pretraining scores alone predicted posttraining scores, whereas age, education, and level of global cognitive functioning (Mini-Mental State Examination) did not contribute reliably to the magnitude of training-related gains.
Neely
A S
AS
Section of Psychology, Stockholm Gerontology Research Center, Sweden.
Bäckman
L
L
D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D004493:Education; D005260:Female; D005544:Forecasting; D006801:Humans; D007802:Language; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory; D011939:Mental Recall; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests