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Relative to younger adults, older adults tend to perform more poorly on tests of both free recall and item recognition memory. The age difference in performance is typically larger for recall tasks relative to those involving recognition. However, there have been reports of comparable age-related differences in free recall and item recognition performance. Further, a differential performance cost does not necessarily mean that processes involved in recall are specifically affected by age. Here we present a meta-analysis of 36 articles reporting 89 direct comparisons of free recall and item recognition in younger and older groups of participants. Standardized effect sizes reveal that age differences are larger for recall tasks (Hedges’ g = 0.89, 95% confidence intervals [0.75, 1.03]) than for recognition tasks (0.54, [0.37, 0.72]). Further, Brinley analyses of the data suggest that distinct functions are needed to relate younger and older performance for the two tasks. These functions differ in intercept pointing to a disproportionate age difference in recall relative to recognition. This is in line with theories of memory and aging which posit specific deficits in processes related to search and retrieval from memory.

Effects of divided attention (DA) during encoding on later memory performance are widely documented. However, the precise nature of these effects on underlying memory representations and subsequent retrieval processes has not been thoroughly investigated. Here, we examined whether DA at encoding would disrupt young adults’ ability to remember associations in episodic memory at highly specific levels of representation (i.e., verbatim memory), or whether the effects of DA extend also to gist memory for associations. Two groups of participants (one under full attention, one under DA) studied face–scene pairs. The DA group simultaneously completed an auditory choice reaction-time task during encoding. Following either a short or long delay, participants were tested on their ability to discriminate intact face–scene pairs from recombined pairs that were either highly similar, less similar, or completely unrelated to originally studied pairs. The DA group performed more poorly than the full attention participants at correctly classifying most types of test pairs at both delays, and results from a multinomial-processing-tree model demonstrated that participants who encoded associations under DA experienced deficits in both specific and gist memory retrieval. We also compared the DA group to full attention older adults who were tested with the same paradigm (Greene & Naveh-Benjamin, Psychological Science, 31 [3], 316–331, 2020). The DA group had lower estimates of gist retrieval than the older adults but similar estimates of verbatim memory. These results suggest that DA at encoding disrupts episodic memories at multiple levels of representation, in contrast to age-related effects, which are restricted only to the highest levels of specificity.

Associative binding between components of an episode is vulnerable to forgetting across time. We investigated whether these forgetting effects on inter-item associative memory occur only at specific or also at gist levels of representation. In two experiments, young adult participants ( n  = 90, and 86, respectively) encoded face–scene pairs and were then tested either immediately after encoding or following a 24-hour delay. Tests featured conjoint recognition judgments, in which participants were tasked with discriminating intact pairs from highly similar foils, less similar foils, and completely dissimilar foils. In both experiments, the 24-hour delay resulted in deficits in specific memory for face–scene pairs, as measured using multinomial-processing-tree analyses. In Experiment 1 , gist memory was not affected by the 24-hour delay, but when associative memory was strengthened through pair repetition (Experiment 2 ), deficits in gist memory following a 24-hour delay were observed. Results suggest that specific representations of associations in episodic memory, and under some conditions gist representations, as well, are susceptible to forgetting across time.

Limitations in one’s capacity to encode information in working memory (WM) constrain later access to that information in long-term memory (LTM). The present study examined whether these WM constraints on episodic LTM are limited to specific representations of past episodes or also extend to gist representations. Across three experiments, young adult participants ( n  = 40 per experiment) studied objects in set sizes of two or six items, either sequentially (Experiments 1a and 1b) or simultaneously (Experiment 2). They then completed old/new recognition tests immediately after each sequence (WM tests). After a long study phase, participants completed LTM conjoint recognition tests, featuring old but untested items from the WM phase, lures that were similar to studied items at gist but not specific levels of representation, and new items unrelated to studied items at both specific and gist levels of representation. Results showed that LTM estimates of specific and gist memory representations from a multinomial-processing-tree model were reduced for items encoded under supra-capacity set sizes (six items) relative to within-capacity set sizes (two items). These results suggest that WM encoding capacity limitations constrain episodic LTM at both specific and gist levels of representation, at least for visual objects. The ability to retrieve from LTM each type of representation for a visual item is contingent on the degree to which the item could be encoded in WM.

Two meta-analyses assessed whether the relations between reading and mathematics outcomes could be explained through overlapping skills (e.g., systems for word and fact retrieval) or domain-general influences (e.g., top-down attentional control). The first (378 studies, 1,282,796 participants) included weighted random-effects meta-regression models to explore and contrast the magnitudes of the links between different reading and mathematical competencies. The second (138 studies, 39,836 participants) used meta-analytic structural equation modeling to determine the influence of a domain-general factor, defined by intelligence, executive functioning, working and short-term memory, and processing speed measures, on the link between reading and mathematics skills. The overall relation was significant (r=0.52), as were all associations between specific reading and mathematics measures (rs = 0.23 to 0.61, ps<.05). Most of the correlations were similar across different types of reading and mathematics competencies, although generally smaller than within-domain correlations. The domain-general model explained most of the covariance between reading and mathematics outcomes, with a few modest moderating effects (e.g., age). The results imply correlations between reading and mathematics measures are largely due to domain-general processes, although within-domain correlations confirm the importance of overlapping competencies especially for reading.

The present study presents the results of a collaborative registered replication of Griskevicius et al. (2010, Experiment 1). As part of the Collaborative Replication and Education Project, 24 student groups from six countries (N = 3,774) investigated whether pro-environmental behavior can be promoted by priming status motives (desires for social status and prestige). This large, multi-site replication showed no evidence to support the hypothesis that hypothetical pro-environmental behavior can be stimulated by having participants read a story designed to prime status motives. We performed several exploratory analyses to investigate whether extension variables (i.e., equating “green” choices with prosocial behavior, political beliefs, sampling methods, location, duration of data collection, and gender) moderated the hypothesized effect of status motives on pro-environmental choices, but these analyses produced null results. One limitation of the study is that most data collection sites did not include a manipulation check, and the one site that did found a much weaker effect (d = 0.32) than the extremely large effect originally reported (d = 3.69). As a result, it remains unclear whether the null result reflects a failure of this specific priming method or a challenge to the underlying theory.

One of the most pervasive adult age-related declines in episodic memory is in the ability to remember associations between components of an episode, such as between a person and a location where the person was encountered, particularly at specific but not general/gist levels of representation. Yet, the reasons why older adults’ episodic memory representations are less specific or detailed than those of younger adults remain to be fully elucidated. In the present study, across two experiments (with a combined n of 80 young and 86 older adults), I tested whether age-related differences in the speed of encoding specific and gist representations may in part explain these deficits. Participants encoded face-scene pairs under one of three rates (fast, intermediate, or slow) and were later administered conjoint recognition tests involving discriminating intact/studied pairs from similar and dissimilar pairs. Results, interpreted with a multinomial-processing-tree (MPT) model of specific and gist memory, showed that increases in encoding time resulted in consistent improvements in specific but not general representations among both young and older adults. Moreover, when older adults had even more time than younger adults to encode the face-scene pairs, the age deficits in specific representations disappeared, though the nature of the memory probe influenced whether this occurred. These results indicate that speed of processing at encoding appears to be one important factor in accounting for age differences in the representational specificity of episodic memories, but this mechanism likely interacts with other mechanisms, such as those at retrieval, to account for why older adults’ episodic memories are representationally less specific than those of younger adults.

This work concerns the study of the composition of cosmic rays with two balloon-borne instruments, SMILI (Superconducting Magnetic Instrument for Light Isotopes), and MAGPIE (MAGnetic Passive Isotope Experiment). The principal result of this thesis is a new upper limit on the fraction of antihelium in the cosmic rays. This result, based on a sample of 16,000 helium events, limits the amount of antimatter that can be present in our Galaxy. Also presented are new data analysis techniques that have been developed to determine the masses of the light cosmic ray nuclei (lithium, beryllium, and boron) with unprecedented precision. In addition, this thesis contains a description of the analysis of nuclear tracks in the detectors of MAGPIE, a prototype apparatus flown from Antarctica to explore novel techniques for improved measurements of cosmic ray composition.

To mark 15 years of the European Journal of Psychotraumatology, editors reviewed the past 15-year years of research on trauma exposure and its consequences, as well as developments in (early) psychological, pharmacological and complementary interventions. In all sections of this paper, we provide perspectives on sex/gender aspects, life course trends, and cross-cultural/global and systemic societal contexts. Globally, the majority of people experience stressful events that may be characterized as traumatic. However, definitions of what is traumatic are not necessarily straightforward or universal. Traumatic events may have a wide range of transdiagnostic mental and physical health consequences, not limited to posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Research on genetic, molecular, and neurobiological influences show promise for further understanding underlying risk and resilience for trauma-related consequences. Symptom presentation, prevalence, and course, in response to traumatic experiences, differ depending on individuals' age and developmental phase, sex/gender, sociocultural and environmental contexts, and systemic socio-political forces. Early interventions have the potential to prevent acute posttraumatic stress reactions from escalating to a PTSD diagnosis whether delivered in the golden hours or weeks after trauma. However, research on prevention is still scarce compared to treatment research where several evidence-based psychological, pharmacological and complementary/ integrative interventions exist, and novel forms of delivery have become available. Here, we focus on how best to address the range of negative health outcomes following trauma, how to serve individuals across the age spectrum, including the very young and old, and include considerations of sex/gender, ethnicity, and culture in diverse contexts, beyond Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic (WEIRD) countries. We conclude with providing directions for future research aimed at improving the well-being of all people impacted by trauma around the world. The provides a 90-minute summary of this paper and can be downloaded here [http://bit.ly/4jdtx6k].