Measuring Episodic Memory Across the Lifespan: NIH Toolbox Picture Sequence Memory Test

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Sureyya S. Dikmen, University of Washington; Patricia Bauer, Emory University; Sandra Weintraub, Northwestern Feinberg School of Medicine; Dan Mungas, University of California Davis; Jerry Slotkin, Northwestern University; Jennifer L. Beaumont, Northwestern University; Richard Gershon, Northwestern University; Nancy R. Temkin, University of Washington; Robert K. Heaton, University of California San Diego
• Language: English
• Date: 2014-07-01
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press (CUP): PDF Allowed SR
• Publication Version: Final Published Version
• Copyright Statement: © 2014 The International Neuropsychological Society.
• Final Published Version (URL): http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S1355617714000460
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society
• ISSN: 1355-6177
• Volume: 20
• Issue: 6
• Start Page: 611
• End Page: 619
• Grant/Funding Information: This study is funded in whole or in part with Federal funds from the Blueprint for Neuroscience Research, National Institutes of Health, under Contract No. HHS-N-260-2006-00007-C.
• Keywords: Learning; Psychology; Neurosciences; Social Sciences; RECALL; Life Sciences & Biomedicine; EVENTS; Clinical Neurology; NIH toolbox; Validation; Science & Technology; Neurosciences & Neurology; DEFERRED IMITATION; NEUROSCIENCE; LESIONS; Episodic memory; Psychiatry; Cognition; INFANCY; Test development
• Research Categories: Psychology, Cognitive; Biology, Neuroscience

Abstract

Episodic memory is one of the most important cognitive domains that involves acquiring, storing and recalling new information. In this article, we describe a new measure developed for the NIH Toolbox, called the Picture Sequence Memory Test (PSMT) that is the first to examine episodic memory across the age range from 3 to 85. We describe the development of the measure and present validation data for ages 20 to 85. The PSMT involves presentation of sequences of pictured objects and activities in a fixed order on a computer screen and simultaneously verbally described, that the participant must remember and then reproduce over three learning trials. The results indicate good test-retest reliability and construct validity. Performance is strongly related to well-established gold standard measures of episodic memory and, as expected, much less well correlated with those of a measure of vocabulary. It shows clear decline with aging in parallel with a gold standard summary measure and relates to several other demographic factors and to self-reported general health status. The PSMT appears to be a reliable and valid test of episodic memory for adults, a finding similar to those found for the same measure with children.