Description (task duration: 6 minutes):

• Encoding: Participants memorize a semantically categorized list of 12 concrete nouns that are read aloud by the experimenter at a rate of one word every 1.5 seconds. The three semantic categories are sports, professions, and vegetables, with 4 words in each category.
• Immediate Recall: Immediately following the presentation, participants are asked to recall aloud as many words from the list as they can in any order. The experimenter records the words recalled on a scoring sheet. The dependent measure is the number of items correctly recalled out of 12.
• Delayed Recall: After approximately 20 minutes, participants are again asked to recall aloud as many words as possible from the previous list in any order. The experimenter records the words recalled on a scoring sheet. The dependent measure is the number of items correctly recalled out of 12.
• Delayed Recognition: Following delayed recall, participants are given a recognition test in which the experimenter reads another list of 24 words, including 12 target words (from recall list) and 12 new words (lures). Of the 12 lures, 6 are semantically related to the target items (2 for each semantic category) and 6 are not semantically related to the target items. Participants make “yes”/”no” judgments to indicate if the word was on the original study list. The dependent measure is the total number of correct judgments (including hits + correction rejections) out of 24. In addition, false alarm rates are available for related and unrelated items, as are hits to old items.

Primary Reference:

Brandt, J. (1991). The Hopkins Verbal Learning Test: Development of a new memory test with six equivalent forms. The Clinical Neuropsychologist, 5(2), 125-142. https://doi.org/10.1080/13854049108403297

Description (task duration: 7 minutes):

• Encoding: Twelve nouns are presented on the computer screen one at a time. Participants are asked to read each word aloud and remember as many as they can.
• Immediate Recall: Immediately following the presentation of the word list, participants are asked to recall aloud as many of the words as possible in any order. Data for the number of items recalled, out of 12, are available.
• Immediate Recognition: Immediately following recall, participants complete a recognition test in which the computer displays the 12 target items and 12 distractor items, one at a time. Participants answer whether they remember seeing the item earlier in the task on the computer (“yes” or “no”). Performance was near ceiling for this test, and data are not currently processed/checked.
• Delayed Recognition: The recognition phase is repeated after a delay of approximately 40 minutes. Data for the number of items recognized (and correct rejections), out of 24, are available. Performance was near ceiling for this task and we advise against using it but include it to provide a complete accounting of the methodology.

Primary Reference:

Robbins, T.W., James, M., Owen, A.M., Sahakian, B.J., McInnes, L., Rabbitt, P. (1994). Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery (CANTAB): A factor analytic study of a large sample of normal elderly volunteers. Dementia, 5, 266-281. https://doi.org/10.1159/000106735

Software Reference:

CANTAB Eclipse. Cambridge Cognition (2007).
https://www.cambridgecognition.com/cantab/cognitive-tests/memory/verbal-recognition-memory-vrm/

Note: It is recommended that the delayed recognition score (CantabVrmDelayRcg16) should NOT be used as it has strong ceiling effects, resulting in severe skewness and kurtosis. Standard data transformations were unable to correct this issue.

Description (task duration: 15 minutes):

• Task Overview: In this paired-associate recognition task, participants are given 12 trials that each include both an encoding and recognition component. This task is administered using color illustrations in a printed flip-book. On each trial, the participant first learns the name of a single cartoon space creature. Then, they must identify that creature in an array of nine aliens. Finally, they are asked to identify previously learned creatures in that array. The difficulty increases across trials as participants are required to remember the names of an increasingly larger set of creatures (up to 12 unique creatures). A separate delayed recognition test is administered 20 minutes later.
• Encoding: For the encoding component of each trial, participants are shown a color illustration of the space creature by itself on a page. Participants are told the name of the creature and are asked to point to it on the page (e.g., “This is Meegoy. Point to Meegoy.”; see figure below).
• Immediate Recognition: Next, for the recognition component of that trial, participants are shown a page of nine space creatures and are asked to point to the newly-introduced creature among the distractors (“Now point to Meegoy”; see figure below). Then, they are asked to point to previously learned creatures (“Now point to Kiptron”). For each trial, the previously learned creatures are tested in a novel order, and whenever the participant responds incorrectly, they are corrected (e.g., “No, this is Meegoy. Point to Meegoy.”). For each trial, they are tested on all previously learned creatures up to a total of 9 creatures; for trials 10-12, the earliest creatures are dropped to keep that total at 9. Specifically, the total number of creatures to be recognized on each trial progresses across the 12 trials as follows: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 9, 9, 9 (total = 72 items). The dependent measure is the number of creatures recognized out of 72.
• Delayed Recognition: After a 20-minute delay, participants are given a surprise recognition test in which they are asked to point to each space creature when prompted by the experimenter. This delayed test has 3 parts, with 12 trials per part. In each trial, the participant is shown an array of nine space creatures, as before, and is asked to point to a previously learned creature (“Now point to Meegoy”). Next, they are shown a new array and asked to point to a different creature (“Now point to Kiptron”). In this test, incorrect responses are no longer corrected by the experimenter, and creatures are not presented in the order originally learned. This process repeats for part 1 until they have been asked to recognize all 12 unique space creatures in one of the 12 different arrays. For parts 2 and 3, they repeat this processing going through the 12 arrays in the same order, but with the items tested being put in a new order—for example, in trial 1 they may now be asked to identify “Delton” instead of “Meegoy”. Thus, all 12 space creatures are tested 3 times each, and the dependent measure is the number of creatures recognized out of 36.

Primary Reference:

Woodcock, R. W., & Johnson, M. B. (1989). Woodcock-Johnson Tests of Achievement. Allen, TX: DLM Teaching Resources.

Description (task duration: 7 minutes):

• Encoding: The experimenter reads two highly detailed stories to the participant. One story describes a fictional character reporting a robbery and another describes a character listening to a weather bulletin.
• Immediate Recall: Immediately after each story, the participant is asked to recall as much of the story as they can, verbatim. The participant’s response is recorded via tape recorder. Reviewing the tape, the experimenter scores the participant’s response by awarding one point per highly specific detail recalled by the participant (called Story Units, e.g., the main character’s name is Anna, the story took place in Boston, the weather forecast predicted rain and hail, etc.). Story Unit scores for Story A and Story B (each out of 25) are calculated by summing all correct details (total out of 50).
• Delayed Recall: After a delay of approximately 30 minutes, the participant is asked to repeat as much each of the two stories as they can remember with answers recorded. Story Unit scores for Story A and B (each out of 25) are again calculated, with a combined score out of 50.

Task Example:

Story A: This story involves a fictional character, Anna Thompson, reporting at a police station that she was robbed, including additional details about her profession and family. (length: 351 characters)

Story B: This story involves a fictional character, Joe Garcia, hearing a detailed weather bulletin about inclement weather and then Joe deciding to stay home for the day. (length: 470 characters)

Primary Reference:

Wechsler, D. (1997). Wechsler memory scale (WMS-III). San Antonio, TX: Psychological Corporation.

Note: The Logical Memory task can also be scored based on the participants’ recall of seven or eight thematic details from the stories (e.g., broadly, indication of character’s gender, indication of major events in the story – storm, robbery, etc.). The thematic score is not checked or verified and is not used.

Description (task duration: 7 minutes):

• Encoding: This test involves recalling increasingly lengthy series of illustrated objects and activities that are presented in a particular order on the computer screen. These picture sequences revolve around two scenarios: playing in a park and going camping. During encoding, each picture is presented individually in the center of the screen for approximately 5 s with pre-recorded instructions describing the image (e.g., “roasting a marshmallow”) and the item then being placed below in a sequence mirroring presentation order (from left-to-right) (see below example).
• Retrieval: After all items are placed, these pictures are then returned to the center of the screen in a jumbled pattern, and the participant’s task is to move them below again in the correct sequence. There are 15 items in the first trial, and 18 items in the second trial.
• Scoring: Participants are given credit for each adjacent pair of pictures that are put in the correct sequence, regardless of location. For example, if pictures in locations 7 and 8 are placed in that order and adjacent to each other anywhere–such as slots 1 and 2–one point is awarded. The maximum score for each trial is one less than the trial length, which equates to 14 points for trial 1 and 17 points for trial 2 (Total Score Range: 0-31). Multiple dependent variables are provided via NIH Toolbox: (1) a raw score is their combined score across the two trials (Score Range: 0-31), (2) a computed score uses item response theory to put everyone on a scale of 200-750, (3) an unadjusted scale score compares this computed score with the full NIH Toolbox nationally representative normative sample (normative M = 100, SD = 15) (4) an age-adjusted scale score compares the computed score of the test-taker to those in the NIH normative sample at the same age (M = 100, SD = 15), (5) an age-adjusted national percentile represents the percentage of people nationally above whom the participant’s score ranks (using NIH normative sample), and (6) a fully-adjusted scale score further adjusts for key demographic variables from the NIH normative sample, including age, gender, race/ethnicity (white/Asian, black, Hispanic, multiracial), and educational attainment (M = 50, SD = 10; NIH Toolbox: Scoring and Interpretation Guide, 2016).

Primary Reference:

Dikmen, S. S., Bauer, P. J., Weintraub, S., Mungas, D., Slotkin, J., Beaumont, J. L., … & Heaton, R. K. (2014). Measuring episodic memory across the lifespan: NIH Toolbox Picture Sequence Memory Test. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, 20(6), 611-619. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1355617714000460

Software Reference:

NIH Toolbox for the iPad test ver. 2.1
https://nihtoolbox.force.com/s/article/nih-toolbox-scoring-and-interpretation-guide

Note: Participants in DLBS Wave 2 performed the NIH Toolbox Picture Sequence Memory on a desktop computer, whereas, participants in DLBS Wave 3 performed the task on an ipad. For additional details, we refer you to the the NIH Toolbox website: https://www.healthmeasures.net/explore-measurement-systems/nih-toolbox/obtain-and-administer-measures

Episodic Memory Data Set: Key to Names and Data Structure in Data Set

Item Name

Abbreviation

Description

Measurement

Subject Number	S#	Subject identifier
Age Interval	AgeInterval	Age at wave recoded into 3-year intervals	20-100
Sex	Sex	Participant’s biological sex.	m = Male f = Female
Race	Race	Race that the participant self-identifies with.	1 = Asian American/ Pacific Islander 2 = Black/African American 3 = Multiracial 4 = Native American 5 = White/Caucasian 6 = Other 7 = Unknown
Ethnicity	Ethnicity	Ethnicity that the participant self-identifies with.	1=Hispanic/Latin(o/a) 0 = Non-Hispanic
Handedness Score	HandednessScore	Average score of participant hand preference while completing various tasks. Higher scores indicate preference for the right hand.	Score range: 0-4   0 = Always left 1 = Usually left 2 = No preference 3 = Usually right 4 = Always right
Mini-Mental State Exam Total	MMSE	Total # of items answered correctly.	Score range: 0-30
Cognitive Battery Wave 1-2 Interval	CogW1toW2	Interval between cognitive testing day 1 for waves 1-2.	# of Years
Cognitive Battery Wave 2-3 Interval	CogW2toW3	Interval between cognitive testing day 1 for waves 2-3.	# of Years
Cognitive Battery Wave 1-3 Interval	CogW1toW3	Interval between cognitive testing day 1 for waves 1-3.	# of Years
Take Home Wave 1-2 Interval	TakeHomeW1toW2	Interval between Take Home for waves 1-2.	# of Years
Take Home Wave 2-3 Interval	TakeHomeW2toW3	Interval between Take Home for waves 2-3.	# of Years
Take Home Wave 1-3 Interval	TakeHomeW1toW3	Interval between Take Home for waves 1-3.	# of Years
MRI Wave 1-2 Interval	MRIW1toW2	Interval between MRI scan for waves 1-2.	# of Years
MRI Wave 2-3 Interval	MRIW2toW3	Interval between MRI scan for waves 2-3.	# of Years
MRI Wave 1-3 Interval	MRIW1toW3	Interval between MRI scan for waves 1-3.	# of Years
Amyloid PET Wave 1-2 Interval	PETAmyW1toW2	Interval between amyloid PET scan for waves 1-2.	# of Years
Amyloid PET Wave 2-3 Interval	PETAmyW2toW3	Interval between amyloid PET scan for waves 2-3.	# of Years
Amyloid PET Wave 1-3 Interval	PETAmyW1toW3	Interval between amyloid PET scan for waves 1-3.	# of Years
Highest Level of Education Completed	EduComp5	This is an ordinal measure of participants’ self-reported highest level of education completed.	1 = Less than high school graduate  2 = High school graduate/GED  3 = Some college/trade/ technical/business school  4 = Bachelor’s degree  5 = Some graduate work  6 = Master’s degree  7 = MD/JD/PhD/other advanced degree
Education Estimated Years Capped	EduYrsEstCap5	This is a conversion of the participant’s self-reported highest level of education into a capped estimated number of years it would take to reach this highest level of education.   The “capped” comes into play when someone spend a longer time than usual for a certain degree but did not complete it. In short, someone with a lot of years of education but did not complete a degree will not score higher than someone who did complete the degree.	11 maximum = Less than High school 12 = High School 15 maximum = Some College 16 = Bachelor’s degree 20 maximum = Some Graduate Work 18 = Master’s degree 21 = MD/JD/PhD/ Advanced degree
Construct Name	ConstructName	Episodic Memory
Construct Number	ConstructNumber	Construct 4
Wave	Wave	Denotes the data collection wave. See individual differences data set for more detail, including testing date intervals.	1 = Wave 1 2 = Wave 2 3 = Wave 3
Has Data	HasData	1 = Yes, returned for wave; 2 = No, did not return for wave
Number of Tasks in Construct	NumTasks	How many tasks make up the episodic memory construct	5 tasks for Episodic Memory
Task 15—Hopkins Verbal Learning	Task15 (column: AA)	1 = Has data 2 = Task data partial 3 = No task data
Hopkins immediate recall	HopImmRcll15	Total correctly recalled	Score Range: 0-12
Hopkins delayed recall	HopDelayRcll15	Total correctly recalled	Score Range: 0-12
Hopkins delayed recognition	HopRcgCrrct15	Total correct (hits + correct rejections)	Score Range: 0-24
Hopkins delayed recognition	HopRcgHit15	Total hits (calling old item old)	Score Range: 0-12
Hopkins delayed recognition	HopRcgFaRelat15	Total false alarms to distractors semantically related to target (calling new item old)	Score Range: 0-6
Hopkins delayed recognition	HopRcgFaUnrelat15	Total false alarms to distractors semantically unrelated to target (calling new item old)	Score Range: 0-6
Hopkins delayed recognition	HopRcgFaTotal15	Total false alarms to distractors (calling new item old)	Score Range: 0-12
Hopkins delayed recognition	HopRcgHitminusfa15	Total hits – false alarms	Score Range: -12-12
Task 16—CANTAB Verbal Recognition Memory	Task16 (column: AJ)	1 = Has data 2 = Task data partial 3 = No task data
CANTAB Verbal Recognition immediate recall	CantabVrmImmRcll16	Total correctly recalled	Score Range: 0-12
CANTAB Verbal Recognition delayed	CantabVrmDelayRcg16	Total correctly recognized (hits + correct rejections)	Score Range: 0-24
Task 17—Woodcock-Johnson Memory for Names	Task17 (column: AM)	1 = Has data 2 = Task data partial 3 = No task data
Woodcock-Johnson immediate recognition	WjImm17	Total correctly recognized	Score Range: 0-72
Woodcock-Johnson delayed recognition	WjDelay17	Total correctly recognized	Score Range: 0-36
Task 18—Wechsler Memory Scale Logical Memory	Task18 (column: AP)	1 = Has data 2 = Task data partial 3 = No task data
Logical memory immediate recall	LmStoryAImm18	Total immediate Story A recall score	Score Range: 0-25
Logical memory immediate recall	LmStoryBImm18	Total immediate Story B recall score	Score Range: 0-25
Logical memory immediate recall	LmStoryImm18	Total immediate Story A+B recall score	Score Range: 0-50
Logical memory delayed recall	LmStoryADelay18	Total delayed Story A recall score	Score Range: 0-25
Logical memory delayed recall	LmStoryBDelay18	Total delayed Story B recall score	Score Range: 0-25
Logical memory delayed recall	LmStoryDelay18	Total delayed Story A+B recall score	Score Range: 0-50
Task19–NIH Toolbox Picture Sequence Memory	Task19 (column: AW)	1 = Has data 2 = Task data partial 3 = No task data
NIH Toolbox Picture Sequence Memory	NIHPicSeqRaw19	Total number of pictures placed in the correct sequence across both trials	Score Range: 0-31
NIH Toolbox Picture Sequence Memory	NIHPicSeqComp19	This computed score uses item response theory to put everyone on a scale of 200-750	Score Range: 200-750
NIH Toolbox Picture Sequence Memory	NIHPicSeqUn19	It compares the performance of the test-taker to those in the entire NIH Toolbox nationally representative normative sample, regardless of age or any other variable.	Normative Mean = 100, SD = 15
NIH Toolbox Picture Sequence Memory	NIHPicSeqAge19	This score compares the score of the test-taker to those in the NIH Toolbox nationally representative normative sample at the same age, where a score of 100 indicates performance that was at the national average for the test-taking participant’s age. Age-corrected standard scores were derived for adults (ages 18-85).	Mean = 100, Standard Deviation = 15
NIH Toolbox Picture Sequence Memory	NIHPicSeqPercent19	A Percentile represents the percentage of people nationally above whom the participant’s score ranks (the comparison group will be based on whichever normative score is used)	Percentile Rank: 0-100
NIH Toolbox Picture Sequence Memory	NIHPicSeqFully19	This score compares the score of the test-taker to those in the NIH Toolbox nationally representative normative sample, while adjusting for key demographic variables (education, gender, and race/ethnicity) collected during the NIH Toolbox national norming study.	Mean = 50, Standard Deviation = 10