Memory Training for Remembering Texts in Older Adults

This study describes a training program for remembering written and spoken texts by enhancing elaboration and organization. A strategy training group (N = 20, age range 46-78 was compared with an educational training group (N = 23, age range 45-84) aimed at reducing worries about forgetfulness, and a retest control group (N = 22, age range 46-74). Subjective evaluations revealed that subjects were very satisfied with the effects of training. However, this was also true for subjects in the educational training condition. Objective test performance did not reveal specific training effects, nor did individual differences in demographic variables (age) and psychological abilities (baseline memory performance, verbal ability, working memory, and mental speed) influence the ability to benefit from training. Some evidence of the effectiveness of the method, however, was suggested by the considerably larger effect sizes in the strategy training group and the considerable larger number of individuals who showed reliable improvements according to the Reliable Change Index. Furthermore, trained subjects counted significantly less text memory failures in their daily lives compared to the control group.