Episodic memory predictions in persons with amnestic and nonamnestic mild cognitive impairment

Abstract

A performance-prediction paradigm was used to examine metamemory abilities in 27 individuals with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (MCI), 14 individuals with nonamnestic MCI, and 41 controls. To assess memory self-awareness, participants predicted the number of words they would remember before completing a list-learning memory task. Memory self-monitoring was evaluated by participants' ability to increase the accuracy of their predictions after experience with the list-learning task. As expected, participants with amnestic MCI demonstrated poorer memory abilities than the controls and participants with nonamnestic MCI. The amnestic MCI group also correctly predicted that they would recall less information than controls. Furthermore, both MCI groups showed accurate awareness of how differing task demands influence recall and successfully modified their memory predictions to be more accurate following task exposure. These findings revealed that individuals with amnestic and nonamnestic MCI were able to competently assess the demands of an externally driven metamemorial situation and utilize experience with a task to accurately update memory self-knowledge. Accurate metamemory skills may facilitate the ability of individuals with MCI to benefit from targeted behavioral interventions focused on utilizing compensatory strategies for everyday memory problems.

Keywords:

• Metamemory
• Memory awareness
• Memory monitoring
• Metacognition
• Mild cognitive impairment
• Dementia

We thank Scott Creamer, Michelle Langill, Kimberly Lanni, and Alicia Rueda for their help in coordinating data collection. We also thank the members of the Aging and Dementia Research Team for their help in collecting and scoring the data. Portions of this research were presented at the Thirty-Seventh Annual Meeting of the International Neuropsychological Society, Atlanta, Georgia. This research was funded in part by an Edward R. Meyer Project Award. No financial or other relationships exist that could be interpreted as a conflict of interest pertaining to this manuscript.