TY  - JOUR
A1  - Kamp, Siri-Maria
A1  - Henrich, Lisa
A1  - Walleitner, Ronja
A1  - Kroneisen, Meike
A1  - Balles, Julia
A1  - Dzionsko-Becker, Inga
A1  - Hoffmann, Heike
A1  - Königs, Sara
A1  - Schneiders, Selina
A1  - Leisse, Markus
A1  - Erdfelder, Edgar
T1  - The survival processing effect in episodic memory in older adults and stroke patients
T2  - Acta Psychologica
N2  - In the present study, we tested whether processing information in the context of an ancestral survival scenario enhances episodic memory performance in older adults and in stroke patients. In an online study (Experiment 1), healthy young and older adults rated words according to their relevance to an ancestral survival scenario, and subsequent free recall performance was compared to a pleasantness judgment task and a moving scenario task in a within-subject design. The typical survival processing effect was replicated: Recall rates were highest in the survival task, followed by the moving and the pleasantness judgment task. Although older adults showed overall lower recall rates, there was no evidence for differences between the age groups in the condition effects. Experiment 2 was conducted in a neurological rehabilitation clinic with a sample of patients who had suffered from a stroke within the past 5 months. On the group level, Experiment 2 revealed no significant difference in recall rates between the three conditions. However, when accounting for overall memory abilities and executive function, independently measured in standardized neuropsychological tests, patients showed a significant survival processing effect. Furthermore, only patients with high executive function scores benefitted from the scenario tasks, suggesting that intact executive function may be necessary for a mnemonic benefit. Taken together, our results support the idea that the survival processing task – a well-studied task in the field of experimental psychology – may be incorporated into a strategy to compensate for memory dysfunction.
KW  - Aging
KW  - Stroke
KW  - Episodic memory
KW  - Recall
KW  - Survival processing effect
Y1  - 2024
UR  - https://ubt.opus.hbz-nrw.de/frontdoor/index/index/docId/2477
UR  - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:hbz:385-1-24775
VL  - 2024
IS  - 248 (2024) 104390
PB  - Elsevier
CY  - Amsterdam
ER  -