The Location Learning Test-Revised is associated with informant-reported everyday functioning in a sample of community-dwelling older adults

OBJECTIVE: Object location learning and memory may be important for older adults to successfully complete some everyday activities.

METHOD: This cross-sectional, correlational study investigated the ecological relevance of the Location Learning Test-Revised (LLT-R) in 195 community-dwelling, older adults in Western Australia. The LLT-R assesses object location learning and memory for everyday objects over five learning trials and after a 30-min delay. Knowledgeable informants provided structured ratings of participants' activities of daily living and memory symptoms.

RESULTS: A greater number of errors on LLT-R total learning trials were associated with mild problems in activities of daily living (particularly in travel and household domains), but not with memory symptoms. The LLT-R's association with activities of daily living was accompanied by a small-to-medium effect size and was not better explained by demographics, global cognitive functioning, mood, or chronic medical conditions.

CONCLUSIONS: Findings provide some support for the ecological relevance of the LLT-R among older community-dwelling adults and suggest that object location learning may play a role in some everyday functioning problems that accompany typical aging.