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Lack of Imagination in Older Adults Linked to Declining Memory
January 7, 2008
Most children are able to imagine their future selves as astronauts, politicians
or even superheroes; however, many older adults find it difficult to recollect
past events, let alone generate new ones. A new Harvard University study reveals
that the ability of older adults to form imaginary scenarios is linked to their
ability to recall detailed memories.
According to the study, episodic memory, which represents our personal memories
of past experiences, “allows individuals to project themselves both backward and
forward in subjective time.”
Therefore, in order to create imagined future events, the individual must be
able to remember the details of previously experienced ones extract various
details and put them together to create an imaginary event, a process known as
the constructive-episodic-simulation.
Harvard psychologists Donna Rose Addis, Alana Wong and Daniel Schacter supported
the hypothesis using an adapted version of the Autobiographical Interview in
which young and older participants responded to randomly selected cue words with
past and future scenarios.
When compared with young adults, the researchers found that the older adults
displayed a significant reduction in the use of internal episodic details to
describe both past memories and imagined future events. Â
The results of the study, which appear in the January 2008 issue of
Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science,
not only reveal that there is a link between age-related memory deficits and
future planning in older adults, but raise questions concerning the involvement
of other types of memory, as well.
Author Contact: Donna Rose Addis daddis@wjh.harvard.edu
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Psychological Science is ranked among the top 10 general psychology journals for
impact by the Institute for Scientific Information. For a copy of the article
“Age-Related Changes in Simulation of Future Events” and access to other
Psychological Science research findings, please contact Katie Kline at (202)
783-2077 or kkline@psychologicalscience.org.
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