Abstract
This research examined the mediating role of worry in the relationship between memory self-efficacy (MSE) and processing efficiency during episodic memory performance in older adults. We conducted an experimental study in which we manipulated older adults’ MSE using a false feedback paradigm. The memory task was adapted to provide an indicator of performance effectiveness (recall score) and an indicator of processing efficiency (ratio of recall score to number of encoding trials needed). We measured participants’ worry and emotionality before task completion. The causal impact of MSE condition (high vs. low MSE) on processing efficiency was significantly mediated through worry, with lower MSE leading to increased worry, which predicted impaired processing efficiency. This study provides the first experimental evidence for the mediating effect of worry on the causal impact of MSE on processing efficiency in older adults when they perform challenging memory tasks. We discuss implications for the clinical diagnosis of cognitive impairment and for age-related disengagement from everyday cognitive activities.
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Notes
As suggested by an anonymous reviewer, we carried out an additional analysis in which we tested the moderating impact of age on the indirect effect of MSE condition on processing efficiency through worry and emotionality. This analysis was run in order to make sure that the large age range of our sample (55–91 years) did not play a role in the mediation model we tested. We ran a conditional process analysis using Hayes’ PROCESS macro for SPSS (2013). The results did not reveal any moderating effect of age on the impact of MSE condition on worry (b = 0.019, p = .486) or emotionality (b = − 0.005, p = .832), and there was no evidence for a moderating effect of age on the impact of worry or emotionality on processing efficiency (b = − 0.024, p = .312 and b = − 0.024, p = .375, respectively).
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I would like to thank Elodie Falque, Adeline Guegan, and Lucile Letscher for their assistance with participants recruitment and data collection.
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Beaudoin, M. Memory performance in older adults: Experimental evidence for the indirect effect of memory self-efficacy on processing efficiency through worry. Motiv Emot 42, 885–895 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11031-018-9703-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11031-018-9703-5