Previous research has consistently shown associative deficits in older adults learning and memory (Chalfonte & Johnson 1996; Naveh-Benjamin, 2000; Naveh-Benjamin, Hussain, & Bar-On 2003) that are related to decreases in hippocampal function (Driscoll et al., 2003; Mitchell, Johnson, Raye, & D’Esposito, 2000). However, older adults learn certain simple predictive relationships between events (Mutter & Williams, 2004) that involve basal ganglia dependent error-driven learning. The goal of the current study was to determine whether error-driven learning could reduce the age-related associative deficits that are associated with hippocampal decline. The results did not support the idea that error-driven learning enhanced older adults’ associative memory, although our study supported normal error-driven processing in older adults. Our study confirms prior findings showing that age differences in associative memory are greater following an error-driven learning task than following an observation learning task (Schmitt-Eliassen, Ferstl, Wiesner, Deuschl, & Witt, 2007; Shohamy et al., 2004). Therefore, the results of the study did not support enhanced associative memory for older adults due to errordriven processing.
","abstract_html":"<p>Previous research has consistently shown associative deficits in older adults learning and memory (Chalfonte & Johnson 1996; Naveh-Benjamin, 2000; Naveh-Benjamin, Hussain, & Bar-On 2003) that are related to decreases in hippocampal function (Driscoll et al., 2003; Mitchell, Johnson, Raye, & D’Esposito, 2000). However, older adults learn certain simple predictive relationships between events (Mutter & Williams, 2004) that involve basal ganglia dependent error-driven learning. The goal of the current study was to determine whether error-driven learning could reduce the age-related associative deficits that are associated with hippocampal decline. The results did not support the idea that error-driven learning enhanced older adults’ associative memory, although our study supported normal error-driven processing in older adults. Our study confirms prior findings showing that age differences in associative memory are greater following an error-driven learning task than following an observation learning task (Schmitt-Eliassen, Ferstl, Wiesner, Deuschl, & Witt, 2007; Shohamy et al., 2004). Therefore, the results of the study did not support enhanced associative memory for older adults due to errordriven processing.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Groves, Candice B. T."],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Arts","degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":"Department of Psychology","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Dr. Sharon Mutter (Director), Dr. Steven Haggbloom, Dr. Andrew Mienaltowski"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2011,"date_issued":"2011-12-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2011-12-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T06:08:09Z","subjects":["associative memory","binding deficit","age-related associative deficits","Cognition and Perception","Psychology"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://digitalcommons.wku.edu/theses/1110","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Dr. Sharon Mutter (Director), Dr. Steven Haggbloom, Dr. Andrew Mienaltowski"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Groves, Candice B. T."]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Department of Psychology"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Arts"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["associative memory","binding deficit","age-related associative deficits","Cognition and Perception","Psychology"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://digitalcommons.wku.edu/theses/1110"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Previous research has consistently shown associative deficits in older adults learning and memory (Chalfonte & Johnson 1996; Naveh-Benjamin, 2000; Naveh-Benjamin, Hussain, & Bar-On 2003) that are related to decreases in hippocampal function (Driscoll et al., 2003; Mitchell, Johnson, Raye, & D’Esposito, 2000). However, older adults learn certain simple predictive relationships between events (Mutter & Williams, 2004) that involve basal ganglia dependent error-driven learning. The goal of the current study was to determine whether error-driven learning could reduce the age-related associative deficits that are associated with hippocampal decline. The results did not support the idea that error-driven learning enhanced older adults’ associative memory, although our study supported normal error-driven processing in older adults. Our study confirms prior findings showing that age differences in associative memory are greater following an error-driven learning task than following an observation learning task (Schmitt-Eliassen, Ferstl, Wiesner, Deuschl, & Witt, 2007; Shohamy et al., 2004). Therefore, the results of the study did not support enhanced associative memory for older adults due to errordriven processing.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Associative and Error-Driven Learning in Younger and Older Adults"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Dr. Sharon Mutter (Director), Dr. Steven Haggbloom, Dr. Andrew Mienaltowski"],"dc:creator":["Groves, Candice B. T."],"dc:description.abstract":["Previous research has consistently shown associative deficits in older adults learning and memory (Chalfonte & Johnson 1996; Naveh-Benjamin, 2000; Naveh-Benjamin, Hussain, & Bar-On 2003) that are related to decreases in hippocampal function (Driscoll et al., 2003; Mitchell, Johnson, Raye, & D’Esposito, 2000). However, older adults learn certain simple predictive relationships between events (Mutter & Williams, 2004) that involve basal ganglia dependent error-driven learning. The goal of the current study was to determine whether error-driven learning could reduce the age-related associative deficits that are associated with hippocampal decline. The results did not support the idea that error-driven learning enhanced older adults’ associative memory, although our study supported normal error-driven processing in older adults. Our study confirms prior findings showing that age differences in associative memory are greater following an error-driven learning task than following an observation learning task (Schmitt-Eliassen, Ferstl, Wiesner, Deuschl, & Witt, 2007; Shohamy et al., 2004). Therefore, the results of the study did not support enhanced associative memory for older adults due to errordriven processing.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://digitalcommons.wku.edu/theses/1110"],"dc:subject":["associative memory","binding deficit","age-related associative deficits","Cognition and Perception","Psychology"],"dc:title":["Associative and Error-Driven Learning in Younger and Older Adults"],"dc:type":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Department of Psychology"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Arts"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T06:08:09Z"}