Memory: Training Methods and Benefits

Abstract

Definition Memory training programs are cognitive interventions that aim to enhance or maintain memory performance via methods such as strategy instruction or engagement; training benefits may be evidenced immediately following training or over time and include improvements for trainees, relative to controls, in performance on tasks targeted in training (e.g., episodic memory), beliefs, or untrained memory or cognitive tasks or other broad outcomes (e.g., indicators of well-being). As a practical matter, one of the most important questions facing geropsychologists is this one: Are memory training programs effective in optimizing the memory performance of older adults? The simple answer is yes: memory training results in immediate improvement in the tasks that are trained (Gross et al. 2012; Hertzog et al. 2009; West and Strickland-Hughes 2015). However, excitement about this definitive response is tempered by concerns regarding the practical impact of these programs. When older adults ask if memory training is effective, they are really asking about more than immediate improvement on the trained tasks. They want to know if the impact of training is lasting and how challenging it might be to improve "memory in general," so that training will help them to succeed over time on most practical memory tasks. These more complicated questions about the impact of training are addressed in this overview, which focuses on behavioral memory interventions. This article documents the extent to which memory training improves memory for healthy older individuals, with a focus on episodic memory and memory strategies. This review excludes physical and pharmaceutical interventions for memory gain as well as interventions designed to improve particular cognitive skills (e.g., reasoning). Issues of practical impact are considered, specifically the long-term maintenance of training gains and transfer of benefit to non-trained tasks. The paper also addresses nonability factors that may moderate gains from training (e.g., beliefs about ability, chronological age) and novel methods for intervention that show promise.