The rehabilitation of memory in old age: Effects of mnemonics and metacognition in strategic training

This study examined the characteristics of strategic memory training, which could be employed to treat both young and old people. The aim of the research was twofold: to investigate the efficacy of the training and to evaluate the recuperation possibilities for the aged suffering from cognitive decline. Sixty participants (20 young, 20 young elderly, and 20 old elderly people) underwent testing in laboratory as well as in ecological conditions in order to investigate cognitive, metacognitive and emotive motivational aspects of working memory performance. Our results strengthen the hypothesis that memory problems are also linked to strategic and metacognitive variables, unrelated to aging, and they confirm the validity of a multifaceted strategic training. Moreover, the results confirm the validity of the training to improve the memory capacity and the possible wider application of strategies even in unfamiliar situations, improving memory performance of both young and elderly people.