Hostname: page-component-745bb68f8f-l4dxg Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-02-06T19:32:23.248Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The contribution of implicit and explicit memory to the effects of errorless learning: A comparison between young and older adults

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 April 2005

ROY P.C. KESSELS ,
SELMA TE BOEKHORST  and
ALBERT POSTMA
ROY P.C. KESSELS
Affiliation:
Helmholtz Instituut, Utrecht University, The Netherlands Department of Neurology, University Medical Center Utrecht, The Netherlands
SELMA TE BOEKHORST
Affiliation:
Institute for Research in Extramural Medicine, VU Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands Netherlands Institute of Mental Health and Addiction, Utrecht, The Netherlands
ALBERT POSTMA
Affiliation:
Helmholtz Instituut, Utrecht University, The Netherlands
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

There is evidence that the prevention of errors during learning might be helpful in improving an impaired memory performance, both in amnesia as well as in normal age-related memory decline. Although errorless learning is a promising technique for use in rehabilitation practice, the underlying mechanisms are unclear. That is, it has been suggested that the beneficial effects of errorless learning operate through implicit memory, whereas others implicate that it is explicit memory that is responsible for the enhanced memory performance after errorless learning. The current study examined the contribution of implicit and explicit memory function to the memory performance after errorless and errorful learning using the process-dissociation procedure. A group of young adults (N = 40) was compared to a matched group of older individuals (N = 40) on a spatial memory task (i.e., learning the locations of everyday objects in a room). The results clearly show age-related decline in explicit spatial memory, while implicit spatial memory was unaffected. Furthermore, the young group benefited from errorless learning compared to errorful learning, while the older group did not show a difference between the two learning conditions. Also, it was found that the effects of errorful learning were related to explicit memory function, and not implicit processing, corroborating and extending recent findings. (JINS, 2005, 11, 144–151.)

Keywords

Errorless learningSpatial memoryProcess-dissociation procedureImplicit memoryExplicit memoryAging
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society , Volume 11 , Issue 2 , March 2005 , pp. 144 - 151
Copyright
© 2005 The International Neuropsychological Society

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Anooshian, L.J. & Seibert, P.S. (1996). Diversity within spatial cognition: Memory processes underlying place recognition. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 10, 281–299.3.0.CO;2-8>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baddeley, A. & Wilson, B.A. (1994). When implicit learning fails: Amnesia and the problem of error elimination. Neuropsychologia, 32, 53–68.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Caldwell, J.I. & Masson, M.E.J. (2001). Conscious and unconscious influences of memory for object location. Memory and Cognition, 29, 285–295.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Curran, T. & Hintzman, D.L. (1995). Violations of the independence assumption in process dissociation. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 21, 531–547.Google Scholar
Curran, T. & Hintzman, D.L. (1997). Consequences and causes of correlations in process dissociations. Journal of Experimental Psychology, Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 23, 496–504.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Desrocher, M. & Smith, M.L. (1998). Relative preservation of egocentric but not allocentric spatial memory in aging. Brain and Cognition, 37, 91–93.Google Scholar
Dodson, C.S. & Johnson, M.K. (1996). Some problems with the process-dissociation approach to memory. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 125, 181–194.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Evans, J.J., Wilson, B.A., Schuri, U., Andrade, J., Baddeley, A., Bruna, O., Canavan, T., Della-Sala, S., Green, R., Laaksonen, R., Lorenzi, L., & Taussik, I. (2000). A comparison of “errorless” and “trial-and-error” learning methods for teaching individuals with acquired memory deficits. Neuropsychological Rehabilitation, 10, 67–101.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Folstein, M.F., Folstein, S.E., & McHugh, P.R. (1975). “Mini-mental state”: A practical method for grading the cognitive state of patients for the clinician. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 12, 189–198.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grandmaison, E. & Simard, M. (2003). A critical review of memory stimulation programs in Alzheimer's disease. Journal of Neuropsychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience, 15, 130–144.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Haaland, K.Y., Price, L., & Larue, A. (2003). What does the WMS–III tell us about memory changes with normal aging? Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, 9, 89–96Google Scholar
Hunkin, N.M., Squires, E.J., Parkin, A.J., & Tidy, J.A. (1998). Are the benefits of errorless learning dependent on implicit memory? Neuropsychologia, 36, 25–36.Google Scholar
Jacoby, L.L., Toth, J.P., & Yonelinas, A.P. (1993). Separating conscious and unconscious influences of memory: Measuring recollection. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 122, 139–154.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jacoby, L.L., Begg, I.M., & Toth, J.P. (1997). In defense of functional independence: Violations of assumptions underlying the process-dissociation procedure? Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 23, 484–495.Google Scholar
Jacoby, L.L. (1998). Invariance in automatic influences of memory: Toward a user's guide for the process-dissociation procedure. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory and Cognition, 24, 3–26.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kessels, R.P.C., Kappelle, L.J., De Haan, E.H.F., & Postma, A. (2002). Lateralization of spatial-memory processes: Evidence on spatial span, maze learning, and memory for object locations. Neuropsychologia, 40, 1465–1473.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kessels, R.P.C. & De Haan, E.H.F. (2003a). Mnemonic strategies in older people: A comparison of errorless and errorful learning. Age and Aging, 32, 529–533.Google Scholar
Kessels, R.P.C. & De Haan, E.H.F. (2003b). Implicit learning in memory rehabilitation: A meta-analysis on errorless learning and vanishing cues methods. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology, 25, 805–814.Google Scholar
Light, L.L. & Zelinski, E.M. (1983). Memory of spatial information in young and old adults. Developmental Psychology, 19, 901–906.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
O'Carroll, R.E., Russell, H.H., Lawrie, S.M., & Johnstone, E.C. (1999). Errorless learning and the cognitive rehabilitation of memory-impaired schizophrenic patients. Psychological Medicine, 29, 105–112.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Parkin, A.J., Reid, T.K., & Russo, R. (1990). On the differential nature of implicit and explicit memory. Memory and Cognition, 18, 507–514.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schacter, D.L. & Tulving, E. (1994). What are the memory systems of 1994? In D.L. Schacter (Ed.), Memory distortions (pp. 1–38). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Schmand, B., Bakker, D., Saan, R., & Louman, J. (1991). De Nederlandse Leestest voor Volwassenen: Een maat voor het premorbide intelligentieniveau [The Dutch Adult Reading Test: A measure of premorbid intelligence]. Tijdschrift voor Gerontologie en Geriatrie, 22, 15–19.Google Scholar
Tailby, R. & Haslam, C. (2003). An investigation of errorless learning in memory-impaired patients: Improving the technique and clarifying theory. Neuropsychologia, 41, 1230–1240.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Terrace, H.S. (1963). Discrimination learning with and without “errors.” Journal of Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 6, 1–27.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Titov, N. & Knight, R.G. (1997). Adult age differences in controlled and automatic memory processing. Psychology and Aging, 12, 565–573.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wilson, B.A., Baddeley, A., Evans, J., & Shiel, A. (1994). Errorless learning in the rehabilitation of memory impaired people. Neuropsychological Rehabilitation, 4, 307–326.CrossRefGoogle Scholar