Interindividual Differences in Cognitive Functioning Are Associated with Autobiographical Memory Retrieval Specificity in Older Adults

We examined whether interindividual differences in cognitive functioning among older adults are related to episodic memory engagement during autobiographical memory retrieval. Older adults (n = 49, 24 males; mean age = 69.93: mean education = 15.45) with different levels of cognitive functioning, estimated using the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), retrieved multiple memories (generation task) and the details of a single memory (elaboration task) to cues representing thematic or event-specific autobiographical knowledge. We found that the MoCA score positively predicted the proportion of specific memories for generation and episodic details for elaboration, but only to cues that represented event-specific information. The results demonstrate that individuals with healthy, but not unhealthy, cognitive status can leverage contextual support from retrieval cues to improve autobiographical specificity.