Age-related changes in memory for gist and details: New perspectives on the representational quality of episodic memory.

Substantial heterogeneity in adult age-related declines in episodic memory within and across tasks and individuals has prompted extensive theoretical debate about the source of these variations.Today, many theories assume that age-related changes in the representational fidelity of memory and the degree to which a test demands the retrieval of specific details of past experiences underlie much of this variability.This special issue of Psychology and Aging presents 19 contributions from researchers from around the world that together aim to enrich our understanding of the representational basis of age-related memory change.These contributions explore several interrelated themes related to measuring, predicting, and, at times, counteracting age-related declines in memory specificity while extending representational accounts to new tasks, more naturalistic contexts, and populations spanning the adult lifespan as well as individuals with neurocognitive impairment.The breadth of coverage spans multiple research domains with rich histories in the field of cognitive aging, including recognition memory, autobiographical memory, event memory, decision making, comprehension, and computational modeling.Collectively, the diversity of questions posed by the articles and the varied methods they advance to addressing them highlight the value of integrating findings across different research traditions to develop a more unified framework for studying age-related changes in memory specificity. Public Significance StatementThe substantial challenges facing older adults who experience age-related memory changes underscore the importance of understanding why these changes occur.This special issue brings together perspectives from multiple domains of cognitive aging research to advance a more unified understanding of how changes in the quality or specificity of memory representations contribute to age-related memory performance.