Sequential Components Of Memory In Chapter 8, Middle Adulthood

Selective memory retrieval is research to try and recall events that occurred in your past life. In their studies, they used sixty-four participants between the age of (20-35) for the younger generation and for the 64 participants their age was over sixty. They then proceeded to show each group certain images to remember. Both groups showed a very poor retrieval to the images portrayed. For the most part, this initial test between the young and older ages was unsuccessful. Since, this experiment didn’t go as planned they came up with a new process. That process being to have a much wider group is participants. Having the participants between the age of (40-85) drastically changed the results of the experiment. Critically, the size of the beneficial but now the detrimental effect of retrieval decreased with age and this age-related decline was mediated by individuals working memory capacity, as measured by the complex operation span task. (Aslan, A., Schlichting, A., John, T., & Bauml, K. T., 2015) In this study it showed that there was an early decline in the older generation memory compared to the younger

Quadagno (2014) discusses ways cognitive abilities differ from young-adults, middle-old adults and oldest old adults. Cognitive decline can also be affected by conditions such as stroke, depression, diabetes, auditory, and vision problems. Older adults may also encounter age related cognitive decline in their daily lives. Cognitive abilities such as processing speed, episodic memory, working memory and dual task processing are abilities that researchers are aiming to improve in older adults (Basak, et al, 2008; Quadagno, 2014).

Additionally, to further support these theories, researchers tend to conduct studies on the famous patient case, HM, to propose the consolidation deficit theory, in which those with amnesia cannot turn short-term memories into long-term memories (Dewar et al., 2010). However, researchers Dewar, Della Sala, Beschin, and Cowan (2010), mentioned that HM’s case does not fully explain why a patient with anterograde amnesia has the ability to get better at cognitive tasks despite being unable to recall having performed those tasks at a previous time. On the same hand, Duff, Wszalek, Tranel, and Cohen (2008) mentioned that most individuals with anterograde amnesia experience heightened intelligence, attention, skill, and reasoning levels (procedural memory).

Age associated declines in cognitive processes are important to the understanding of the human mind. This study investigates the relationship between ageing and short term memory in particular, by first exploring current cognitive and neuroscientific research involving concepts such as short term/working memory, long term memory and ageing, and secondly, by means of a short term memory experiment involving verbal and numerical stimuli, that was administered to two age groups- 20 to 40 year old adults and 50 to 70 year olds. The results of the experiment were then analysed using the ANOVA statistical software programme. The results did not conclusively show age related decline

A decline in cognitive functioning occurs during the middle and late adult years. The ensuing decades indicates that there is a general pattern of change in cognitive function across the late adult years, with consistent declines in perceptual motor skills, concept formation, complex memory tasks, ability to deal with novel tasks that are complex, and tasks that require quick decisions.

There are also cognitive changes during middle adulthood. There is a mixed pattern of positive and negative changes in cognitive abilities. Processing speed starts to decrease during this time period however crystallized thought does not decline until older age (pg. 456). Working memory begins to decline however semantic memory continues to increase as we learning throughout our older years (ph 456). Usually most memory decline is during older age and can be attributed to Alzheimer’s disease of dementia.

Aging is a natural process of life however, studies show that there are some age-related decline in cognitive development. As a person grows older some brain cell dies, shrink, or weaken and cause some decline in brain functions. Some cognitive processes include attention, working memory, long-term memory, perception, and executive control. The material will explain the effect of aging on cognitive development by providing scholarly research proof.

We moved onto discussing how his memory has changed and how it has affected his life. His response really surprised us when he said, “I have a better memory than my 24 year old grandson.” He said that one thing that hasn’t changed all his life is his memory. He hasn’t had any issues with memory or memory loss. Based on his answers his crystalized and fluid intelligence seems to be in check. He also told us how he loves gardening, listening to music, watching movies, reading and so on. According to the textbook, as we get older our creativity declines but

A topic I learned more of this semester in regards to the older population was dementia. Some loss in memory function is an inevitable consequence of aging, and as one ages, it takes more time to process information and retrieve memories. However, "Dementia is a general term that refers to progressive, degenerative brain dysfunction, including deterioration in memory, concentration, language skills, visuospatial skills, and reasoning, that interferes with a person's daily functioning" (Mauk, 2014, p. 377). This loss of mental skills affects the ability to function over time, causing problems with memory and how one thinks, impacting these individual's overall quality of life.

After watching the videos and reading chapter 15 has changed my perspective on Cognitive functioning in late age. The reason being, first being able to know the difference between dementia and Alzheimer’s, I thought that there were two different types of memory loss. The video did a good explanation describing dementia as the symptoms that lead to Alzheimer’s. Also, a good way to avoid the disease is to constantly exercise the brain and use less leisure time on watching television. As a person gets into late age you can see them not contributing in many activities that has so far prevented them to develop Alzheimer’s. Also, people with a college education had the most protection against Alzheimer’s due to many years of learning and looking

Their paths of change confirm that midlife is a time when some of the most complex mental abilities are at their peak. In five abilities, modest gains occurred into the fifties and sixties, followed by gradual declines. The sixth ability, perceptual speed, decreased steadily from the twenties to the late eighties. And late in life, fluid factors (spatial orientation, numeric ability, and perceptual speed), showed greater decrements than crystallized factors (verbal ability, inductive reasoning, and verbal memory).

They focused on the experiment stimuli and the response of the brain. Also, they talked about how older people and people with Alzheimer’s disease have a difficult time with estimating chronological age. “Disorientation to chronological age becomes more pronounced with dementia severity” (“Time Perspective and Positivity Effects in Alzheimer’s Disease”, 2016). It mentioned that people with Alzheimer’s Disease tend to remember more positive images than negative images. In the conclusion it talked about the results they found out and talked about how important using a variety of ages

During the time of late adulthood, there are many stereotypes that are simply untrue in many cases. The notion that we age and lose our memory, or unable to fall in love, or become poor and lonely are not true (Berk, 2014). While these incidents certainly do happen, they are not part of the aging process. Some of the more interesting stereotypes suggest that elderly men and women lose their memory and are unable to recollect the past (Berk, 2014). Elderly do tend to develop memory slower or have to think more about the past recall memories of the loss of memory suggest an underlying illness, like Alzheimer's disease or dementia. It can also be a warning sign of an infection.

Many studies have been broad, studying the vocabulary, reasoning, memory, and speed of the person, but zoning in on one thing specific may lead to further understanding. Studying the effects of cognitive aging in relation to memory possibly will open so many more areas of study. Studying specific age groups could also be helpful when attempting to understand cognitive aging as a whole. Learning about how speed, memory, vocabulary, and reasoning all work within a child, 10-15 years old, might be helpful when comparing that data to that information of an adult. between 50-60 years

Advancing age is commonly associated with loss of memory. The inability to maintain both short term and long term memory is serious. Learning new things or remembering familiar words and names can be quite daunting.