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Behavioral evidence suggests that young and older adults show a benefit in source memory accuracy when processing materials in reference to the self. In the young, activity within the medial prefrontal cortex supports this source memory benefit at study. In this investigation, we examined whether the same neural regions support this memory benefit in both age groups. Using fMRI, we scanned participants while they studied and retrieved pictures of objects paired with one of three scenes (source) under self-reference and other-reference conditions. At the time of study, half of the items were presented once and half twice, allowing us to match behavioral performance between the groups. Both groups showed equivalent source accuracy benefits for objects encoded self-referentially. Activity in the left dorsal medial prefrontal cortex supported subsequent source memory in both age groups for the self-referenced relative to the other-referenced items. At the time of test, source accuracy for both the self- and other-referenced items was supported by a network of regions including the precuneus in both age groups. At both study and test, little in the way of age differences emerged, suggesting that when they are matched on behavioral performance, young and older adults engage similar regions in support of source memory when processing materials in reference to the self; however, when we did not match performance, age differences in functional recruitment were prevalent. These results suggest that by capitalizing on preserved processes (self-referential encoding), older adults can show improvement in memory for source details that they would typically not remember well, relative to the young.

Previous behavioral evidence suggests that instructed strategy use benefits associative memory formation in paired associate tasks. Two such effective encoding strategies--visual imagery and sentence generation--facilitate memory through the production of different types of mediators (e.g., mental images and sentences). Neuroimaging evidence suggests that regions of the brain support memory reflecting the mental operations engaged at the time of study. That work, however, has not taken into account self-reported encoding task success (i.e., whether participants successfully generated a mediator). It is unknown, therefore, whether task-selective memory effects specific to each strategy might be found when encoding strategies are successfully implemented. In this experiment, participants studied pairs of abstract nouns under either visual imagery or sentence generation encoding instructions. At the time of study, participants reported their success at generating a mediator. Outside of the scanner, participants further reported the quality of the generated mediator (e.g., images, sentences) for each word pair. We observed task-selective memory effects for visual imagery in the left middle occipital gyrus, the left precuneus, and the lingual gyrus. No such task-selective effects were observed for sentence generation. Intriguingly, activity at the time of study in the left precuneus was modulated by the self-reported quality (vividness) of the generated mental images with greater activity for trials given higher ratings of quality. These data suggest that regions of the brain support memory in accord with the encoding operations engaged at the time of study.

Introduction Prior work in the memory domain has shown that certain social information is especially well‐remembered such as information for social targets who cheat. Less work, however, has investigated the extent people remember information for social targets who engage in prosocial behaviors (e.g., helping) in social interactions. The current investigation examines whether there is a memory advantage for social targets who perform prosocial behaviors. Methods Across two experiments, participants formed impressions of social targets engaging in prosocial and non‐prosocial behaviors. Participants were then tested on their memory for the impression as well as the specific behavior each social target performed. Results Results of Experiment 1 showed that memory for impressions was better for social targets engaging in prosocial compared to non‐prosocial behaviors. Results of Experiment 2 showed marginally better behavior memory for targets performing prosocial compared to non‐prosocial behaviors. Conclusion Overall, results of both experiments provide converging evidence of a prosocial advantage in memory, which suggests that people are attuned to prosocial behaviors exhibited by others in the social domain. Given the importance of prosociality in social contexts, the current investigation examines whether people show a memory advantage for social targets who perform prosocial behaviors. Results of both experiments showed evidence of a prosocial advantage in memory, which has not been shown before. Overall, results suggest that people are attuned to prosocial behaviors exhibited by others.

Past work shows that processing information in relation to the self improves memory which is known as the self‐reference effect in memory. Other work suggests that transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) can also improve memory. Given recent research on self‐reference context memory effects (improved memory for contextual episodic details associated with self‐referential processing), we were interested in examining the extent stimulation might increase the magnitude of the self‐reference context memory effect. In this investigation, participants studied objects superimposed on different background scenes in either a self‐reference or other‐reference condition while receiving either active or sham stimulation to the dorsal medial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC), a cortical region known to support self‐reference context memory effects. Participants then completed a memory test that assessed item memory (have you seen this object before?) and context memory (with which background scene was this object paired?). Results showed a self‐reference context memory effect driven by enhanced memory for stimuli processed in the self‐reference compared to the other‐reference condition across all participants (regardless of stimulation condition). tDCS, however, had no effect on memory. Specifically, stimulation did not increase the magnitude of the self‐reference context memory effect under active compared to sham stimulation. These results suggest that stimulation of the dmPFC at encoding may not add to the memory benefits induced by self‐referential processing suggesting a boundary condition to tDCS effects on memory. In this investigation we examined the extent transcranial direct current (tDCS) applied to the dorsal medial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC) affects memory for information processed in reference to the self. We found strong evidence that self‐referential processing improved memory (relative to a control condition), but further showed that tDCS did not have strong effects on memory. Results advance understanding of the extent tDCS affects memory.

Introduction Retrieval practice has been shown to be an effective means of learning new information, a memory phenomenon known as the testing effect or the retrieval practice effect. Some work suggests that the magnitude of the testing effect can be enhanced when the test used for retrieval practice uses fewer cues to retrieve previously studied information. It is unclear, however, whether such testing benefits extend to peripheral contextual details associated with studied materials (e.g., location where stimuli appear, font color in which items are presented, etc.). In this experiment, we examine both item memory (i.e., memory for the studied items) and context memory under conditions where the intervening test offers fewer cues (i.e., lower constraint) compared to more cues (higher constraint) to better understand item and context memory testing effects. Methods Participants first studied word pairs presented in one of eight locations as well as in either red or green font color. Then, in the re‐exposure phase, participants processed materials in two types of intervening tests (lower constraint and a higher constraint test) as well as in a restudy condition, before a final memory test. Results For item memory, results showed that memory was better in the lower constraint testing condition compared to both the higher constraint testing condition as well as the restudy (control) condition. For context memory, results indicated improved memory for location context under lower constraint testing compared to both higher constraint testing and restudy conditions. There was no difference in memory, however, for color context across all conditions. Conclusion Overall, these findings suggest that providing fewer cues to aid retrieval in the intervening test can induce better memory for both items as well as some contextual details. Research has shown that testing is an effective strategy for improving memory for previously learned material compared to restudying (i.e., the testing effect or the retrieval practice effect). In this investigation, we examine whether providing less information about target items during a practice test (a lower constraint test) improves item and context memory over a practice test with more information about target items (a higher constraint test). Results showed that the lower constraint practice test led to better memory relative to the higher constraint test, restudy, and control conditions. Overall, we establish a way to increase the magnitude of the testing effect in memory, which may be a way to optimize memory using this well‐known study strategy.

Evidence suggests that memory is involved in making simulations and predictions about the future (i.e., future thinking), but less work has examined how the outcome of those predictions (whether events play out as predicted or expected) subsequently affects episodic memory. In this investigation, we examine whether memory is better for outcomes that are consistent with predictions, or whether memory is enhanced for outcomes that are inconsistent with predictions, after the predicted event occurs. In this experiment, participants learned a core trait associated with social targets (e.g., high in extroversion), before making predictions about behaviors targets would perform. Participants then were shown behaviors the social targets actually performed (i.e., prediction outcome), which was either consistent or inconsistent with predictions. After that, participants completed a memory test (recognition; recall) for the prediction outcomes. For recognition, the results revealed better memory for outcomes that were consistent with traits associated with targets (i.e., trait‐consistent outcomes), compared to outcomes that were inconsistent (i.e., trait‐inconsistent outcomes). Finding a memory advantage for trait‐consistent outcomes suggests that outcomes that are in line with the contents of memory (e.g., what one knows; schemas) are more readily remembered than those that are inconsistent with memory, which may reflect an adaptive memory process. For recall, memory did not differ between trait‐consistent and trait‐inconsistent outcomes. Altogether, the results of this experiment advance understanding of the reciprocal relationship between episodic memory and future thinking and show that outcome of predictions has an influence on subsequent episodic memory, at least as measured by recognition. In this investigation, we examined the relationship between future thinking and episodic memory. Specifically, we investigated whether the outcome of predictions, whether events occurred as predicted, has an effect on memory after the predicted events play out. The results showed substantially better memory for events that occurred as predicted, compared to events that did not occur as predicted, which advances the understanding of the relationship between future thinking and memory.

Background Decades of research has investigated the relationship between memory and future thinking. Although some of this work has shown that memory forms the basis of making predictions about the future, less work has investigated how the outcome of those predictions (whether consistent or inconsistent with what one predicts) is later remembered. Limited past works suggests that memory for outcomes that are consistent with what one predicts are better remembered that predictions that are inconsistent. To advance understanding of the relationship between episodic memory and future thinking, the current investigation examines how the outcome of predictions affects memory after the predicted events takes place. Methods In this experiment, participants first learned trait information about social targets. Then, participants imagined scenarios involving targets and the self (i.e., the participant) and made predictions about which behaviors targets would perform based on the trait information associated with targets participants learned earlier. Participants were then told the behaviors the targets actually performed (i.e., prediction outcome), which was either consistent or inconsistent with predictions, before then taking a memory test for prediction outcomes (what the social target actually did). Results Results showed memory for prediction-consistent outcomes was better than for prediction-inconsistent outcomes, suggesting people exhibit enhanced memory for events that are in line with predictions based on existing contents of memory (e.g., what one knows; schemas), which is in line with the limited past work in this domain. Conclusion Overall, finding better memory for prediction-consistent outcomes may reflect an adaptive function in memory, where people show enhanced memory for episodes when they play out as predicted, and aligned with the current contents of memory.

The generation effect is the memory benefit for self-generated compared with read or experimenter-provided information. In recent decades, numerous theories have been proposed to explain the memory mechanism(s) and boundary conditions of the generation effect. In this meta-analysis and theoretical review, we analyzed 126 articles (310 experiments, 1,653 estimates) to assess 7 prominent theories to determine which theories are supported by the existing literature. Because some theories focus on item memory (memory for the generated target) and others focus on context memory (memory for details associated with the generated target), we examined memory effects for both types of details (item, context) in this meta-analysis. Further, we assessed the influence of generation constraint (how constrained participants are to generate a certain response), which recent work has shown affects the magnitude of the generation effect. Overall, the results of this meta-analysis support some theoretical accounts, but not others, as explanatory mechanisms of the generation effect. Results further showed that generation constraint significantly moderates the magnitude of the generation effect, suggesting that this factor should be rigorously investigated in future work. Overall, this meta-analysis provides a review and examination of generation effect theories, and reveals important areas of future research.

The ability to prioritize learning some information over others when that information is considered important or valuable is known as value-directed remembering. In these experiments, we investigate how value influences different aspects of memory, including item memory (memory for the to-be-learned materials) and context memory (memory for peripheral details that occurred when studying items) to get a better understanding of how people prioritize learning information. In this investigation, participants encoded words associated with a range of values (binned into higher, medium, and lower value in Experiment 1 , and into higher and lower value in Experiment 2 ) for a subsequent memory test that measured item memory (Is this item old or new?) as well as both objective context memory (memory for an objectively verifiable contextual detail: In which voice was this item spoken?) and subjective context memory (How many visual, auditory, and extraneous thoughts/feelings can you remember associated with this item?). Results indicated that value influenced item memory but had no effect on objective context memory in both Experiments. In Experiment 2 , results showed better subjective context memory for multiple episodic details for higher-value relative to lower-value materials. Overall, these findings suggest that value has a strong influence over some aspects of memory, but not others. This work gives a richer understanding of how people prioritize learning more important over less important information.

To investigate the contribution of cortical midline regions to stereotype threat and resiliency, we compared age groups in an event-related functional MRI study. During scanning, 17 younger and 16 older adults judged whether words stereotypical of aging and control words described them. Judging stereotype words versus control words revealed higher activations in posterior midline regions associated with self-referencing, including the precuneus, for older adults compared to younger adults. While heightening salience of stereotypes can evoke a threat response, detrimentally affecting performance, invoking stereotypes can also lead to a phenomenon called resilience, where older adults use those stereotypes to create downward social-comparisons to \"other\" older adults and elevate their own self-perception. In an exploration of brain regions underlying stereotype threat responses as well as resilience responses, we found significant activation in older adults for threat over resilient responses in posterior midline regions including the precuneus, associated with self-reflective thought, and parahippocampal gyrus, implicated in autobiographical memory. These findings have implications for understanding how aging stereotypes may affect the engagement of regions associated with contextual and social processing of self-relevant information, indicating ways in which stereotype threat can affect the engagement of neural resources with age.