Associative and Error-Driven Learning in Younger and Older Adults

<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>

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Arts

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Department of Psychology

Year

2011

Author dc:creator

• Groves, Candice B. T.

Contributors dc:contributor

• Dr. Sharon Mutter (Director), Dr. Steven Haggbloom, Dr. Andrew Mienaltowski

• associative memory
• binding deficit
• age-related associative deficits
• Cognition and Perception
• Psychology

Repository record dc:identifier

https://digitalcommons.wku.edu/theses/1110

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:digitalcommons.wku.edu:theses-2113