AGE-RELATED DIFFERENCES IN PROSPECTIVE MEMORY: TURKISH VIRTUAL WEEK (VW-TR)

PAKYÜREK, Gün; TAVAT, Banu CANGÖZ · 2023 · Crossref

DOI: 10.29400/tjgeri.2023.351

archive: archived pipeline: cataloged verified

Get this paper ↗ (DOI — opens at the source; we link to it, we don't host it)

Summary

This study investigates age-related differences in prospective memory (PM), the ability to remember intended future actions, while simultaneously adapting the laboratory-based "Virtual Week" (VW) task to Turkish culture. The research addresses the "age prospective memory paradox," a phenomenon where older adults often perform worse than younger adults on laboratory-based PM tasks despite maintaining comparable performance in naturalistic, real-life settings. The primary objectives were to examine how aging affects PM performance using this ecologically valid task and to validate the Turkish adaptation of VW (VW-TR) for use in cognitive aging research. The study included 120 participants: 60 young adults (mean age 21.03) and 60 older adults (mean age 71.38). Participants were screened using the Montreal Cognitive Assessment, Beck Depression Inventory, Geriatric Depression Scale, and Functional Activities Questionnaire to ensure cognitive and psychological baseline suitability. Executive functions were assessed via the Stroop test and Trail Making Test Part B. The core experimental task was the computerized VW-TR, which simulates a week of daily life involving regular, irregular, event-based, time-based, and real-time check tasks. Cultural adaptations were made to align with Turkish social and dietary norms. Statistical analyses included ANOVA to evaluate the effects of age, task type, and cue type on performance accuracy. Results indicated that the VW-TR demonstrated good reliability, with a Spearman–Brown split-half coefficient of 0.82. Young adults significantly outperformed older adults on the VW-TR overall ($p < .001$). This performance gap was most pronounced in irregular tasks and time-check tasks. Older adults showed lower accuracy in time-based PM compared to event-based PM, consistent with previous findings on cognitive aging. Additionally, older participants exhibited slower completion times and higher error rates on executive function tests (Stroop and Trail Making) compared to the young group. The study noted that older adults experienced practical difficulties with computer mouse usage, which may have impacted their performance and reliability scores relative to Western adaptations of the task. The findings support the theory of the age prospective memory paradox, confirming that older adults exhibit deficits in laboratory-based PM tasks, particularly those requiring high cognitive load or time monitoring. The authors suggest that cultural factors, such as collectivist tendencies where family members assist with daily activities, and lower familiarity with technology among older Turkish adults, may contribute to these laboratory deficits. The study concludes that the VW-TR is a valid tool for assessing PM in Turkish populations but recommends future studies utilize board-game or touchscreen versions to mitigate technology-related barriers for older adults. Comparing these laboratory results with naturalistic PM assessments could further elucidate the mechanisms behind the age PM paradox.

Provenance

The full processing record for this entry. Every stage of this paper's journey through the pipeline is logged — what ran, with which tool and model, how many attempts it took, and when it last completed.

Summary generated by qwen3.6-27b-prismaquant on 2026-06-25; verification: verified.

Topics

Ranked by relevance to this paper. Hover a topic for its definition.

• prospective memory interruptions