Age-related differences on a new test of temporal order memory for everyday tasks

Temporal order memory involves the ability to remember the order in which events are experienced across time. Memory for the temporal order of events is critically important in daily life and is adversely affected by healthy aging. Age-related changes in temporal order memory may stem from functional and structural changes in the frontal and temporal lobes. While previous laboratory tests have measured temporal order memory, most do not relate to everyday experiences and none are standardized. We designed a new test to examine age-related differences in incidental temporal order memory for a self-generated sequence of tasks one might complete in everyday life.;Young and older adults completed the new Temporal Order of Everyday Events (TOEV) test assessing immediate free recall, delayed free recall, and cued delayed-recall for the temporal order of events in a sequence. Participants were given 10 cards, each listing a task one might accomplish in a typical day. Participants were asked to self-generate a "to do" list by placing the 10 cards in a temporal sequence representing the order in which they would accomplish the tasks. Immediate recall was assessed by asking participants to verbally list the tasks in the same order as the sequence was generated during encoding. Following a 20 min delay, delayed recall was assessed using the same procedure. Finally, delayed cuedrecall and recognition memory were assessed. Standardized neuropsychological measures of verbal memory, executive functioning, visuospatial perception, attention, motor function and reading were administered to assess preliminary evidence for construct validity.;We found evidence for age-related deficits in temporal order memory for a selfgenerated sequence (with incidental encoding) consistent with an encoding profile, in the context intact recognition for items in the sequence. As predicted, performance on the TOEV was correlated with measures of memory and executive functioning, providing preliminary evidence for convergent validity. Performance on measures not theoretically related to the construct did not correlate with performance on the TOEV, providing preliminary evidence for divergent validity. Our task is portable, can be rapidly administered in clinical or laboratory settings, and may assess real world aspects of temporal order memory critical in daily life.