Tracking the identity of occluded objects requires binding an object’s features to its location to represent exactly which objects are located where, relying heavily on capacity-limited visual working memory. This dissertation aims to examine the capacity and stability of object working memory, and the complexity and fidelity of object working memory representations, in toddlers and young children. A series of four experiments used a novel task to examine 28- to 40-month-old toddlers’ and 5- to 6-year-old children’s visual working memory recall of specific objects in specific locations. I predicted capacity limits would vary with age, presentation/occlusion type, and complexity, and that older children would be able to monitor these limits successfully. Children observed arrays of featurally-distinct objects that were hidden from view either simultaneously (Chapter 2, Experiment 1 and Chapter 3, Experiments 1 & 2) or sequentially (Chapter 2, Experiment 2) and were asked to recall an object’s location. When objects were hidden simultaneously, toddlers showed a capacity of 3 feature-location bindings (Chapter 2, Experiment 1) and 5- to 6-year-old children showed a capacity of 4 feature-location bindings (Chapter 3, Experiment 1), and both showed capacity development, supporting the hypotheses. When objects were hidden sequentially, toddlers’ performance was impacted by whether they had the easier (set size 2) or harder (set size 3) block first, suggesting the structure of the task may have influenced how children divided attention between maintaining and encoding of representations in working memory. Additionally, in Chapter 3, the number of feature bindings that children had to maintain was varied. Children could remember more single-feature objects than multi-feature objects (limit of 4 vs. 3, respectively), suggesting that binding additional features to a representation taxes cognitive resources, as hypothesized. Finally, the study in Chapter 3 explored children’s ability to monitor the fidelity of their visual working memories by asking them to gauge their confidence by placing bets with tangible, at-risk resources. Children modulated their bets appropriately, betting more after providing correct answers and fewer after incorrect answers, as hypothesized. Together, these data help to inform our understanding of visual working memory for feature-location bound objects across early development.

Judgments of Learning (JOLs) are judgments of the likelihood of remembering recently studied material on a future test. Although JOLs have been extensively studied, particularly due to their important applications in education, relatively little is known about the cognitive and neural processes supporting JOLs and how these processes relate to actual memory processing. Direct access theories describe JOLs as outputs following direct readings of memory traces and hence predict that JOLs cannot be distinguished from objective memory encoding operations. Inferential theories, by contrast, claim JOLs are products of the evaluation of a number of cues, perceived by learners to carry predictive value. This alternative account argues that JOLs are made on the basis of multiple underlying processes, which do not necessarily overlap with memory encoding. In this thesis, the neural and cognitive bases of JOLs were examined in a series of four ERP experiments. Across experiments the study phase ERP data showed that JOLs produce neural activity that is partly overlapping with, but also partly distinct from, the activity that predicts successful memory encoding. Furthermore, the neural correlates of successful memory encoding appear sensitive to the requirements to make a JOL, emphasising the close interaction between subjective and objective measures of memory encoding. Finally, the neural correlates of both JOLs and successful memory encoding were found to vary depending on the nature of the stimulus materials, suggesting that both phenomena are supported by multiple cognitive and neural systems. Although the primary focus was on the study phase ERP data, the thesis also contains two additional chapters reporting the ERP data acquired during the test phases of three of the original experiments. These data, which examined the relative engagements of retrieval processes for low and high JOL items, suggest that encoding processes specifically resulting in later recollection (as opposed to familiarity) form one reliable basis for making JOLs. Overall, the evidence collected in this series of ERP experiments suggests that JOLs are not pure products of objective memory processes, as suggested by direct access theories, but are supported by neural systems that are at least partly distinct from those supporting successful memory encoding. These observations are compatible with inferential theories claiming that JOLs are supported by multiple processes that can be differentially engaged across stimulus contents.

<p>Although many aspects of odor naming have received attention during the years, the participants' own cognitions (metamemory) about their naming attempts have not. (i) We showed that feeling of knowing (FOK) judgments accompanying odor naming failures are predictive of later recognition (Study I) or retrieval (Study III) of the missing name, but to a lesser degree than equivalent judgments about names of persons. “Tip of the nose” (TON) experiences do predict later odor name recall (Study I), but are otherwise poorly related to any partial activation of other information associated with the odor. (ii) We evaluated two theories proposed to explain the underlying basis of FOK judgments. Correlational analysis showed that FOK judgments about odor names are related to the perceived familiarity of the cue triggering the FOK (cue familiarity theory; Study III). FOK judgments are based on the amount of available information about the sought-for memory (accessibility theory; Study I and III). (iii) We demonstrated that the participants are overconfident in their odor naming attempts (Study I and II). This may to some degree be due to the arousing properties of the odors (Study II), suggesting that emotional variables should be taken into account when researching metamemory. (iv) Our inability to correctly name odors are typically not due to an uniquely poor association between odors and their proper names, but rather due to failures to identify the odors (Study III), that is, failures to retrieve “what it is”. It was also found that TOT experiences are unusual for odor names and more so than for person names. (v) We discuss potential differences between olfactory metamemory and metamemory for other modalities. The TON experience differs from the tip of the tongue (TOT) experience and the predictive validity is lower for metamemory judgments about odor names compared to other modalities.</p>

Although many aspects of odor naming have received attention during the years, the participants' own cognitions (metamemory) about their naming attempts have not. (i) We showed that feeling of knowing (FOK) judgments accompanying odor naming failures are predictive of later recognition (Study I) or retrieval (Study III) of the missing name, but to a lesser degree than equivalent judgments about names of persons. “Tip of the nose” (TON) experiences do predict later odor name recall (Study I), but are otherwise poorly related to any partial activation of other information associated with the odor. (ii) We evaluated two theories proposed to explain the underlying basis of FOK judgments. Correlational analysis showed that FOK judgments about odor names are related to the perceived familiarity of the cue triggering the FOK (cue familiarity theory; Study III). FOK judgments are based on the amount of available information about the sought-for memory (accessibility theory; Study I and III). (iii) We demonstrated that the participants are overconfident in their odor naming attempts (Study I and II). This may to some degree be due to the arousing properties of the odors (Study II), suggesting that emotional variables should be taken into account when researching metamemory. (iv) Our inability to correctly name odors are typically not due to an uniquely poor association between odors and their proper names, but rather due to failures to identify the odors (Study III), that is, failures to retrieve “what it is”. It was also found that TOT experiences are unusual for odor names and more so than for person names. (v) We discuss potential differences between olfactory metamemory and metamemory for other modalities. The TON experience differs from the tip of the tongue (TOT) experience and the predictive validity is lower for metamemory judgments about odor names compared to other modalities.

Abstract This study examined memory functioning from a female perspective, with the aim of determining factors that might impact performance and render the accuracy of memory measurement, particularly with advancing age, problematic. Factors investigated, among others, were the role of attention and/or engagement with the memory tasks administered, state affect (i.e., positive and negative arousal) at time of testing, subjective memory appraisal, particularly in the domain of perceived memory self-efficacy (MSE), and the use of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) by older post-menopausal women. Two experimental computer-based tests of episodic memory, Paired Associates (PA) and Serial Recall (SR), were administered to 181 female participants aged 18 to 86 years. The tasks were designed to emphasise components that make episodic memory especially difficult, and minimise the use of strategies that might assist recall. Thus, they varied the requirement for recall as opposed to recognition, the need to form an association between a pair of unrelated words, and the need to discriminate the most recent list from earlier list(s). Other measures used included a demographic survey administered to participants individually in an interview format, and a number of variables examined in this study derived from responses to items contained in this survey. The research battery also included psychometric measures of transient affective states, psychological well-being, alertness, in addition to measures of global cognitive status and metamemory (i.e., subjective memory appraisal). The overall aim was to examine a range of factors that might influence episodic memory performance in cognitively intact healthy women, and thus render the interpretation of age-related changes to memory functioning problematic. For analyses participants were assigned to three groups - young, middle-aged and older. There were 60 young adults aged 18 to 29 years, 60 middle-aged adults aged 49 to 60 years, and 61 older adults aged 61 to 86 years. Each participant was tested individually in a single session lasting approximately 3 ½ hours, with younger participants requiring less time to complete assessments. Order of test administration and instructions were standardised across the entire sample. Inferential statistics included correlation, t-test statistic, and analysis of variance (ANOVA) with Tukey post-hoc comparisons. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses were conducted to determine key correlates of memory performance outcomes. No significant differences between the cohorts were found in mean years of education. However, episodic memory recall differed significantly by age group. As expected, young adults recalled significantly more words in the memory tasks than their older counterparts, and middle-aged adults outperformed adults in the oldest cohort. Moreover, older adults’ performance deficits were more pronounced in the tasks requiring that they make an association between a pair of unrelated words. Across all cases, transient mood states were significantly related to memory scores; however, individuals in the oldest cohort were particularly vulnerable to mood fluctuations. This cohort experienced a significantly greater decline in positive affect and a significant greater increase in negative affect while undergoing memory testing, highlighting their greater vulnerability to stressors inherent in a memory testing situation. Although scores on the measure of attention were near ceiling, indicative of participants’ level of effort, motivation, and engagement with the memory tasks, the measure of attention discriminated between older and younger adults’ results, and was a key predictor of memory performance. Noteworthy is that attention scores significantly contributed to performance variability in younger and older adults but not in middle-aged adults. Across all cases, age, education, and attention were the key contributing factors to variability in memory scores. Although four lifestyle factors: (1) subjective sleep appraisal, (2) body mass index (BMI), (3) physical activity, and (4) caffeine intake were significantly associated with performance in the memory tasks, once the effects of these key variables were removed, lifestyle factor did not uniquely contribute to performance variability. Moreover, no association was found between hormone replacement therapy (HRT) and episodic memory performance across the broader sample. However, in a small subgroup of older women (n = 15, M age = 66 years), long-term users of this treatment, HRT had a significant effect on memory performance and was indicative of better recall on the memory tasks. The effect of subjective memory appraisal, MSE included, on objective performance outcomes was examined. The results showed that memory self-evaluations were not a significant contributing factor to episodic memory performance, confirming that memory self-appraisal is a poor predictor of actual memory performance, and thus does not pose a challenge to the measurement of age-related changes to memory abilities. Although there were commonalities, factors influencing memory performance differed by age cohort. For example, in young adults, positive mood, a perception of sleeping well, subjective health, and attention were significantly related to performance on the memory tasks. However, once the effect of attention was removed in the regression analysis, no other variable was predictive of episodic memory functioning in this cohort. In contrast, the single significant predictor of memory performance in middle-aged individuals was education, and neither attention, nor positive mood, or physical activity had a significant effect on this cohort’s performance. Similarly, having more years of formal education benefited older adults’ episodic memory functioning. However, high scores on global cognitive functioning and on the tasks measuring attention were equally important to episodic memory recall in this age group. In sum, the significant contribution of age to memory variability attested to the utility of the memory measures in detecting age-related changes to episodic memory functioning, which were independent of deficits in attention or level of education. Moreover, the effect of several factors (e.g., transient mood, lifestyle) on memory scores was explained by an effect on attention, and this has clear implication for the proper evaluation of long-term changes to memory functioning. Limitations of the study and suggestion for future research are discussed.

Abstract This study examined memory functioning from a female perspective, with the aim of determining factors that might impact performance and render the accuracy of memory measurement, particularly with advancing age, problematic. Factors investigated, among others, were the role of attention and/or engagement with the memory tasks administered, state affect (i.e., positive and negative arousal) at time of testing, subjective memory appraisal, particularly in the domain of perceived memory self-efficacy (MSE), and the use of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) by older post-menopausal women. Two experimental computer-based tests of episodic memory, Paired Associates (PA) and Serial Recall (SR), were administered to 181 female participants aged 18 to 86 years. The tasks were designed to emphasise components that make episodic memory especially difficult, and minimise the use of strategies that might assist recall. Thus, they varied the requirement for recall as opposed to recognition, the need to form an association between a pair of unrelated words, and the need to discriminate the most recent list from earlier list(s). Other measures used included a demographic survey administered to participants individually in an interview format, and a number of variables examined in this study derived from responses to items contained in this survey. The research battery also included psychometric measures of transient affective states, psychological well-being, alertness, in addition to measures of global cognitive status and metamemory (i.e., subjective memory appraisal). The overall aim was to examine a range of factors that might influence episodic memory performance in cognitively intact healthy women, and thus render the interpretation of age-related changes to memory functioning problematic. For analyses participants were assigned to three groups - young, middle-aged and older. There were 60 young adults aged 18 to 29 years, 60 middle-aged adults aged 49 to 60 years, and 61 older adults aged 61 to 86 years. Each participant was tested individually in a single session lasting approximately 3 ½ hours, with younger participants requiring less time to complete assessments. Order of test administration and instructions were standardised across the entire sample. Inferential statistics included correlation, t-test statistic, and analysis of variance (ANOVA) with Tukey post-hoc comparisons. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses were conducted to determine key correlates of memory performance outcomes. No significant differences between the cohorts were found in mean years of education. However, episodic memory recall differed significantly by age group. As expected, young adults recalled significantly more words in the memory tasks than their older counterparts, and middle-aged adults outperformed adults in the oldest cohort. Moreover, older adults’ performance deficits were more pronounced in the tasks requiring that they make an association between a pair of unrelated words. Across all cases, transient mood states were significantly related to memory scores; however, individuals in the oldest cohort were particularly vulnerable to mood fluctuations. This cohort experienced a significantly greater decline in positive affect and a significant greater increase in negative affect while undergoing memory testing, highlighting their greater vulnerability to stressors inherent in a memory testing situation. Although scores on the measure of attention were near ceiling, indicative of participants’ level of effort, motivation, and engagement with the memory tasks, the measure of attention discriminated between older and younger adults’ results, and was a key predictor of memory performance. Noteworthy is that attention scores significantly contributed to performance variability in younger and older adults but not in middle-aged adults. Across all cases, age, education, and attention were the key contributing factors to variability in memory scores. Although four lifestyle factors: (1) subjective sleep appraisal, (2) body mass index (BMI), (3) physical activity, and (4) caffeine intake were significantly associated with performance in the memory tasks, once the effects of these key variables were removed, lifestyle factor did not uniquely contribute to performance variability. Moreover, no association was found between hormone replacement therapy (HRT) and episodic memory performance across the broader sample. However, in a small subgroup of older women (n = 15, M age = 66 years), long-term users of this treatment, HRT had a significant effect on memory performance and was indicative of better recall on the memory tasks. The effect of subjective memory appraisal, MSE included, on objective performance outcomes was examined. The results showed that memory self-evaluations were not a significant contributing factor to episodic memory performance, confirming that memory self-appraisal is a poor predictor of actual memory performance, and thus does not pose a challenge to the measurement of age-related changes to memory abilities. Although there were commonalities, factors influencing memory performance differed by age cohort. For example, in young adults, positive mood, a perception of sleeping well, subjective health, and attention were significantly related to performance on the memory tasks. However, once the effect of attention was removed in the regression analysis, no other variable was predictive of episodic memory functioning in this cohort. In contrast, the single significant predictor of memory performance in middle-aged individuals was education, and neither attention, nor positive mood, or physical activity had a significant effect on this cohort’s performance. Similarly, having more years of formal education benefited older adults’ episodic memory functioning. However, high scores on global cognitive functioning and on the tasks measuring attention were equally important to episodic memory recall in this age group. In sum, the significant contribution of age to memory variability attested to the utility of the memory measures in detecting age-related changes to episodic memory functioning, which were independent of deficits in attention or level of education. Moreover, the effect of several factors (e.g., transient mood, lifestyle) on memory scores was explained by an effect on attention, and this has clear implication for the proper evaluation of long-term changes to memory functioning. Limitations of the study and suggestion for future research are discussed.

L’objectif de ce travail était d’appréhender le déficit associatif en mémoire épisodique des adultes âgés en termes de déclin des processus stratégiques. Comme composantes du déficit lié à l’âge des processus stratégiques, nous avons étudié les stratégies de mémoire en tant qu’opérations contrôlées, puis dans le cadre de la métamémoire en tant que processus de régulation, et finalement selon une approche neuropsychologique nous avons considéré le fonctionnement exécutivo-frontal comme élément essentiel de la mise en œuvre de stratégies mnésiques. L’ensemble des résultats suggère que le déficit associatif des adultes âgés est en partie dû à leur diminution des capacités d’initiation, d’exécution et d’adaptation de stratégies lors de l’encodage et de la récupération. En outre, le dysfonctionnement exécutif des adultes âgés limiterait leur capacité d’exploiter efficacement une stratégie mise en œuvre à l’apprentissage et à la récupération. Toutefois, l’augmentation de la quantité de support cognitif et l’amélioration de la qualité de ce dernier a permis de compenser leur déficit associatif en mémoire épisodique. Globalement, ce travail suggère que les adultes âgés bénéficieraient d’une réserve cognitive qui leur permettrait, à condition de support et d’entraînement cognitif, de compenser en partie leur déficit associatif en mémoire épisodique. / The main goal of this thesis was to evaluate the age-related associative memory deficit in terms of encoding and retrieval strategies impairment. We studied memory strategies in terms of control processes, then within metamemory framework in terms of regulation process, and finally according to a neuropsychological approach we considered the executive control as a critical factor in the implementation of memory strategies. Results suggest that the age-related associative deficit is partly due to their reduction of the abilities of initiation, implementation and adaptation of strategies during encoding and retrieval. Moreover, the age-related executive dysfunction would restrict their ability to exploit efficiently a strategy implemented during encoding and/or retrieval. Nevertheless, the increase of the quantity of cognitive support and the improvement of its quality allowed compensating their associative deficit in episodic memory. Finally, this thesis suggests that older adults benefit from cognitive plasticity which would allow them, on the condition of support and on cognitive training, partly compensating their associative memory deficit.

La schizophrénie s’accompagne de troubles de mémoire limitant les possibilités d’insertion socio-professionnelle des patients en souffrant. La métamémoire concerne un savoir sur son propre savoir. L’objectif de cette thèse était d’explorer les théories et méthodes de la métamémoire pour y rechercher des possibilités d’améliorer les performances de mémoire des patients souffrant de schizophrénie. Dans un protocole prenant en compte les aspects de contrôle personnel lors de la récupération mnésique, nous avons montré que les patients peuvent atteindre des performances de mémoire comparables à celles des témoins lorsqu’ils sont guidés par les processus de la métamémoire (évaluation et contrôle), alors que leurs performances spontanées étaient déficitaires. Notre étude pilote portant sur l’exploration du potentiel mnésique du jugement d’apprentissage métamnésique a produit des résultats prometteurs. Cette stratégie semble être plus efficace que la stratégie la plus habituellement utilisée malgré sa faible efficacité, celle consistant à réapprendre les items. Nos résultats permettent d’entrevoir l’utilité de mémoire dans la schizophrénie. / Schizophrenia is accompanied by a wide range of cognitive difficulties which highly limit social and professional integration of patients suffering from it. Metamemory can be referred as knowledge about its own knowledge. The aim of this thesis was to explore theories and methods of metamemory which could be relevant in improving patients’ memory performances. In a study devoted to study personal control over memory reporting, our results have shown that patients can achieve comparable memory performances as control subjects while guided through metamemory processes (monitoring and control), where as their performance were spontaneously deficient. Our pilot study exploring the mnemonic potential of metamemory judgment of learning generated promising results. This strategy seems to be more efficient than the most commonly implemented but not very efficient learning strategy, relearning of to be learned items. Our results allow us to presume the utility of metamemory to enhance memory performances in schizophrenia.

Organisations need to learn from their current and past experiences to optimise their activities, decisions and future strategies. Non-governmental organisations are similar to public or governmental departments in that learning is crucial for their existence. One of the key factors influencing learning is the development and maintenance of a functional organisational memory. The organisational memory is a dynamic entity encompassing more than the storage facilities provided by an information technology system. It also resides in human form, acting as reservoirs and interpretation centres and feeding the organisational memory as a whole. Previous research in organisational memory focussed mostly on describing the structure of the storage systems, with the current focus on developing management information systems to enhance organisational memory storage and retrieval. Some work has been undertaken to describe the processes involved, which include accessing, storing and retrieving the memory. Other functions that need special attention are the development of data to information, and especially creating and using knowledge. The studies mostly involved existing organisational memory as it was represented at a specific time of the organisations’ development. This study looks at all the different developmental phases of a regional NGO, which include start-up, expansion in target territory, expansion in activities, consolidation and close-out. To investigate the temporal changes of organisational memory in a regional intermediary NGO, a retrospective case study methodology was used. The NGO was closing down, providing an opportunity to investigate all the stages of development. The data collection, analysis and interpretation involved various in-depth interviews with current and past staff members and other key stakeholders, such as beneficiary organisations and consultants. In addition, a complex set of documents were studied, including proposals, strategic documents, minutes of meetings, and audiovisual material. The main themes and factors, such as individuals, leadership, electronic and other management of the organisational memory, culture, including the importance of a vision and theory of change, policies and global developments are discussed using a temporal ecological framework. The key findings of this study illustrate the importance of directories as part of the metamemory in accessing seemingly dormant organisational memories. The conclusion is that organisational memory survives after the demise of the organisation and that it is accessible through directories. / Psychology / Ph. D. (Consulting Psychology)

Organisations need to learn from their current and past experiences to optimise their activities, decisions and future strategies. Non-governmental organisations are similar to public or governmental departments in that learning is crucial for their existence. One of the key factors influencing learning is the development and maintenance of a functional organisational memory. The organisational memory is a dynamic entity encompassing more than the storage facilities provided by an information technology system. It also resides in human form, acting as reservoirs and interpretation centres and feeding the organisational memory as a whole. Previous research in organisational memory focussed mostly on describing the structure of the storage systems, with the current focus on developing management information systems to enhance organisational memory storage and retrieval. Some work has been undertaken to describe the processes involved, which include accessing, storing and retrieving the memory. Other functions that need special attention are the development of data to information, and especially creating and using knowledge. The studies mostly involved existing organisational memory as it was represented at a specific time of the organisations’ development. This study looks at all the different developmental phases of a regional NGO, which include start-up, expansion in target territory, expansion in activities, consolidation and close-out. To investigate the temporal changes of organisational memory in a regional intermediary NGO, a retrospective case study methodology was used. The NGO was closing down, providing an opportunity to investigate all the stages of development. The data collection, analysis and interpretation involved various in-depth interviews with current and past staff members and other key stakeholders, such as beneficiary organisations and consultants. In addition, a complex set of documents were studied, including proposals, strategic documents, minutes of meetings, and audiovisual material. The main themes and factors, such as individuals, leadership, electronic and other management of the organisational memory, culture, including the importance of a vision and theory of change, policies and global developments are discussed using a temporal ecological framework. The key findings of this study illustrate the importance of directories as part of the metamemory in accessing seemingly dormant organisational memories. The conclusion is that organisational memory survives after the demise of the organisation and that it is accessible through directories. / Psychology / Ph. D. (Consulting Psychology)