Trial reportExperimental aging research2014
Do older adults use the method of loci? Results from the ACTIVE study.
Trial report in Experimental aging research, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 20 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
20 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- The method of loci in the context of psychological research: A systematic review and meta-analysis.British journal of psychology (London, England : 1953) · 2025Pooled it
- Comparing Web-Based and Classroom-Based Memory Training for Older Adults: The ACTIVE Memory Works™ Study.The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences · 2020Trial
- Self-Reported ADHD Symptoms and Cognitive Performance in a National Sample of US Older Adults.Journal of attention disorders · 2026Article
- Brain organization of a memory champion.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Longitudinal associations of life space mobility and domain-specific cognitive measures in ACTIVE.Neuropsychology, development, and cognition. Section B, Aging, neuropsychology and cognition · 2025Article
- Event perception and event memory in real-world experience.Nature reviews psychology · 2024Article
- Attention to event segmentation improves memory in young adults: A lifespan study.Psychology and aging · 2024Article
- Just write it down: Similarity in the benefit from cognitive offloading in young and older adults.Memory & cognition · 2023Article
- Memory rehabilitation during the COVID-19 pandemic.BMC medical informatics and decision making · 2023Article
- The feasibility and acceptability of an app-based cognitive strategy training programme for older people.Pilot and feasibility studies · 2023Article
- Cognitive Training Effect and Imaging Evidence.Advances in experimental medicine and biology · 2023Article
- Avoid or Embrace? Practice Effects in Alzheimer's Disease Prevention Trials.Frontiers in aging neuroscience · 2022Article
- Ancient Mnemonic in New Format-Episodic Memory Training With the Method of Loci in a Smart Phone Application.The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences · 2021Article
- A Feasibility Study on the Use of the Method of Loci for Improving Episodic Memory Performance in Schizophrenia and Non-clinical Subjects.Frontiers in psychology · 2021Article
- Delaying memory decline: different options and emerging solutions.Translational psychiatry · 2020Review
- Fostering Self-Management of Everyday Memory in Older Adults: A New Intervention Approach.Frontiers in psychology · 2020Article
- Sentence Context and Word-Picture Cued-Recall Paired-Associate Learning Procedure Boosts Recall in Normal and Mild Alzheimer's Disease Patients.Behavioural neurology · 2018Article
- White matter integrity as a marker for cognitive plasticity in aging.Neurobiology of aging · 2016Article
- Route memory in an unfamiliar homogeneous environment: a comparison of two strategies.Cognitive processing · 2015Article
- Long-term studies in cognitive training for older adults: a systematic review.Dementia & neuropsychologiaArticle
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
Abstract
unlabelledBACKGROUND/STUDY CONTEXT: The method of loci (MoL) is a complex visuospatial mnemonic strategy. Previous research suggests that older adults could potentially benefit from using the MoL, but that it is too attentionally demanding for them to use in practice. The authors evaluated the hypotheses that training can increase the use of MoL, and that MoL use is associated with better memory.
methodsThe authors analyzed skip patterns on response forms for the Auditory Verbal Learning Test (AVLT) in the Advanced Cognitive Training for Independent and Vital Elderly (ACTIVE; N = 1401) trial using 5 years of longitudinal follow-up.
resultsAt baseline, 2% of participants skipped spaces. Fewer than 2% of control participants skipped spaces at any visit across 5 years, but 25% of memory-trained participants, taught the MoL, did so. Participants who skipped spaces used more serial clustering, a hallmark of the MoL (p < .001). Trained participants who skipped spaces showed greater memory improvement after training than memory-trained participants who did not skip spaces (Cohen's d = .84, p = .007), and did not differ in the subsequent rate of long-term memory decline through up to 5 years of follow-up.
conclusionDespite being attentionally demanding, this study suggests that after training, the MoL is used by up to 25% of older adults, and that its use is associated with immediate memory improvement that was sustained through the course of follow-up. Findings are consistent with the notion that older adults balance complexity with novelty in strategy selection, and that changes in strategies used following memory training result in observable qualitative and quantitative differences in memory performance.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.