TITLE:
A Brief Report Investigating Subjective and Objective Memory Pre- and Post-Memory Training in 70- to 96-Year-Old Individuals with Mild Memory Deficit
AUTHORS:
Peter A. Magaro, Bruce Brotter, Mariyam Jalees
KEYWORDS:
Older Adult, Subjective Memory Impairment, MMD, Cognistat, Memory Training, Memory
JOURNAL NAME:
Advances in Aging Research,
Vol.4 No.4,
July
31,
2015
ABSTRACT: Subjective memory impairment is a major complaint among older adults; however, research is conflicting regarding the relationship between subjective memory impairment and objectively measured memory loss. Here, individuals with mild memory impairment completed the memory subscale of the Cognistat as a measure of objective memory, and the Memory Complaint Questionnaire (MCQ) as a measure of subjective memory, prior to and following a 3-month memory training program. Results revealed that individuals with more, compared with fewer, memory complaints performed worse on the Cognistat. Additionally, increased Cognistat performance fol-lowing the memory training procedure was associated with decreased MCQ measured complaints. There was suggestive evidence that the memory training procedure improved memory, and thus future research is warranted. These findings imply that older, memory-impaired, adults, despite their memory impairment, are indeed able to judge, and may be accurately concerned with, the extent of their own memory loss. It should be noted that serious statistical limitations here indicate the need for replication to confirm the validity of the findings.