Investigating the developmental changes in self-assessments of everyday memory during adulthood using the Everyday Memory Questionnaire (EMQ)

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to elucidate the developmental changes in self-assessments of everyday memory during adulthood using the Everyday Memory Questionnaire (EMQ). A total of 299 adults (99 younger (Y: 19–25 years), 97 middle-aged (M: 38–55 years), and 103 older (O: 63–75 years)) participated in the study. The participants were asked to rate 28 items, each describing an everyday activity that involves forgetting or memory failures, on 9-point scales from 1 (not at all in the last six month) to 9 (more than once a day). The results indicate developmental differences among the younger, middle-aged, and older participants in terms of mean ratings for five subgroups of the items based on the factorial structure of the EMQ derived from previous studies (e.g., Shimizu, Takahashi, & Saito, 2006, 2007), such that five patterns could be discerned; (a) Y=M=O, (b) Y>M>O, (c) Y=M>O, (d) Y>M=O, and (e) Y>O. These results suggest that a developmental shift gradually occurs in self-assessments of everyday memory from pessimistic to optimistic perspectives concerning own memory abilities throughout adulthood.View full abstract