Self-assessment of everyday memory in older adults using metamemory questionnaires

Abstract

Several questionnaires concerning metamemory have been widely used within psychological research with various participant populations in order to examine the structure and function of metamemory within everyday life. This study investigates the characteristics of metamemory in older adults and memory aging using three typical metamemory questionnaires. The Everyday Memory Questionnaire (EMQ: 28 items), the Cognitive Failures Questionnaire (CFQ: 25 items), and the Memory Ability Questionnaire (MAQ: 31 items) were administered to 344 older adults (60–88 years) attending a senior citizen education program. Comparisons with normative data for a large sample of younger adults (809 undergraduate students)obtained in a prior study, employing a similar method, revealed that the older participants (n=334) have higher self-assessments for their own memory functions for almost all aspects of everyday memory apart from memory for personal names. The results are mainly discussed in terms of the differences in memory loads for younger and older adults within everyday life.