Do binding deficits account for age-related decline in visual working memory?

James R. Brockmole, Mario Parra Rodriguez, Sergio Della Sala, Robert H. Logie

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    108 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    Remembering visual material, such as objects, faces, and spatial locations, over a short period of time (seconds) becomes more difficult as we age. We investigated whether these deficits could be explained by a simple reduction in visual working memory capacity or by an impairment in one's ability to form or maintain appropriate associations among pieces of related information. In three experiments, we used recognition and recall tests to address the efficacy with which older adults can create bound object representations by varying the number of features of each object that had to be remembered for a subsequent memory test. Results demonstrated that whereas older adults exhibited reduced memory capacity as compared with that of younger adults, both groups stored integrated object representations in visual working memory. These results are contrasted with other work that suggests that age-related memory decline is due, at least in part, to associative deficits.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)543-547
    Number of pages5
    JournalPsychonomic Bulletin and Review
    Volume15
    Issue number3
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - Jun 2008

    ASJC Scopus subject areas

    • General Psychology
    • Experimental and Cognitive Psychology
    • Psychology (miscellaneous)

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