Memory and Basic Cognition – Adulthood and Aging - Slides | DEP 3404, Study notes of Psychology

Download Memory and Basic Cognition – Adulthood and Aging - Slides | DEP 3404 and more Study notes Psychology in PDF only on Docsity! Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Adulthood and Aging Marion G. Mason Adulthood and Aging Chapter Memory and Basic Cognition 8 Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Adulthood and Aging Marion G. Mason Overview  Memory Models  Information Processing  Parallel Distributed Processing)  Memory and the Aging Brain  Braining Imaging  Individual Differences in Brain Activity  Memory Performance Across Adulthood • Attention • Working Memory and Processing Speed • Episodic Memory • Nonepisodic Memory  Memory Errors, Improvement Strategies, and Training • Common Memory Errors • Individual Memory Improvement Strategies • Memory Training Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Adulthood and Aging Marion G. Mason Memory Models Information Processing Memory involves a series of connected storage areas through which information is brought in, stored, and later retrieved (Atkinson & Shiffrin, 1968) Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Adulthood and Aging Marion G. Mason Memory Models Information Processing 1.Information from environment received/brought in via sensory registers (physiological structures)  sensory register hold information for 1-4 seconds  sensory information translated into brain signals via encoding 2.Encoded information moves to short-term memory (STM)  temporary storage- holds 7 (+/- 2 items) for 6-12 seconds 3.STM moves to permanent/long-term memory (LTM). 4.Info in LTM retrieved, used in cognitive processing, and translated into the appropriate form in order to communicate information back to the environment. Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Adulthood and Aging Marion G. Mason Memory Models Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Adulthood and Aging Marion G. Mason Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Adulthood and Aging Marion G. Mason Memory Models Parallel Distributed Processing •Theory provides a way of understanding long term memory •Theory is useful when interpreting research on memory decline with age. •According to the theory, individuals store mental representations of specific units of information and build connections between those units. •Memory/memories formed when mental energy activates appropriate units and connections to create a concept Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Adulthood and Aging Marion G. Mason Figure 8.1 Illustration of Parallel Distributed Processing Model. Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Adulthood and Aging Marion G. Mason Memory and the Aging Brain Brain Imaging  Structural Scans • i.e., Computerized Tomography [CT] and Magnetic Resonance Imaging [MRI] • Produce detailed images of brain structures Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Adulthood and Aging Marion G. Mason Memory and the Aging Brain Brain Imaging  CT scans  Used to study variations in brain density  Show Brain atrophy: decrease in amount of brain tissue over time - After 60 y/o brain weight decreases by 2-3 grams per year - At 60 years, brain occupies 95% of skull area; In 90s, brain occupies 80% of skull area - Brain structures change at different rates (with some structures beginning at age 30). - Brain structures that reduce most in size show greatest reductions in performance. Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Adulthood and Aging Marion G. Mason Memory and the Aging Brain Brain Imaging  Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)  Detect different types of soft tissues that form brain structures using radio and magnetic waves  Show that gray and white matter decrease with age. - Grey matter (or Cerebral cortex) is where most cognitive processing in brain takes place. Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Adulthood and Aging Marion G. Mason Memory and the Aging Brain Brain Imaging • Both PET and fMRI have shown that aging affects frontal and temporal lobes most (Albert & Killiany, 2001; Kensinger & Corkin, 2003; Vinters, 2001). • Prefrontal lobes are active when older adults engage their memory, although activation pattern differs from that of young adults (Craik, 2003)  Recalling info activates regions predominantly lateralized in right prefrontal cortex for younger adults;  Recalling info activates both right and left prefrontal regions for older adults Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Adulthood and Aging Marion G. Mason Memory and the Aging Brain Brain Imaging  Hippocampus  One of the most widely studied structures of the inner brain in memory research.  Sends info to parts of the brain for long term storage; then retrieves info when needed.  Brain imaging shows that Hippocampal functioning decreases with normal aging  Older adults take longer to learn something new but retention is not an issue (Kensinger & Corkin, 2003).  Patients with Alzheimer's have difficulty transferring information from STM to LTM and later retrieving it.  MRIs show severe damage in this area (Albert & Killiany, 2001) Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Adulthood and Aging Marion G. Mason Memory and the Aging Brain Individual Differences in Brain Activity •Associations between age and cognitive processes do not prove cause and effect - human brain is complex •Differences in aging and brain functioning varies for individuals (Fabiani et al., 1998)  Gender differences exist (Albert & Killiany, 2001; Sinnot & Shifren, 2001)  Interindividual and intraindividual differences exist in processing speed and memory performance (Li et al., 2001; Zimprich et al., 2004) Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Adulthood and Aging Marion G. Mason Memory Performance Across Adulthood Attention •In general, younger adults more efficient and successful in use of attentional processes compared to older adults •However, relationship between aging and attention is complex •Attention involves many processes, which adds to complexity…. Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Adulthood and Aging Marion G. Mason Memory Performance Across Adulthood Attention Selective Attention  Choosing to focus on a stimulus out of many stimuli;  involves - 1) selecting one stimulus/item; and - 2) ignoring other irrelevant items  Age related differences seen when the situation makes it difficult to ignore distracting stimuli. Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Adulthood and Aging Marion G. Mason Memory Performance Across Adulthood Attention Vigilance  Sustained attention over time  In general, older adults are not impaired on vigilance tasks. Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Adulthood and Aging Marion G. Mason Memory Performance Across Adulthood Working Memory and Processing Speed Little decline in STM with age (Backman et al., 2001; Kensinger & Corkin, 2003)  Ex: repeat back the following set of numbers: 5-6-7-9-4-3-1. Relatively more decline in working memory with age  Ex: remember the words: peach, banana, plum, apple, orange, pear; and recite them in order (primary memory). -and-  Recite the same words in order from most to least favorite fruit (working memory) Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Adulthood and Aging Marion G. Mason Memory Performance Across Adulthood Working Memory and Processing Speed Beginning in young adulthood, individuals have more difficulty with executive control functions, such as  Processing complex info or large amounts of info  Using elaborate strategies to process information. •Working memory deterioration found in: reading, computing, listening. •Decline in both are associated with changes in frontal and temporal regions of the brain (Souchay et al., 2000). Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Adulthood and Aging Marion G. Mason Memory Performance Across Adulthood Working Memory and Processing Speed Executive control functions and processing speed in working memory slow with age  Decrease in processing speed primary reason for cognitive decline with age.  Other hypotheses explaining cognitive decline with age: - Decrease in capacity of memory storage - Ability to coordinate cognitive tasks and processes also decline with age - With age, less ability to switch cognitive tasks. Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Adulthood and Aging Marion G. Mason Memory Performance Across Adulthood Episodic Memory  Autobiographical memory bump (aka Reminiscence Bump)  Recall of most important (positive) memories are for events that happened during teens and 20s (Birren & Schroots, 2006)  Reminiscence pattern begins for adults in 30s or 40s  Younger adults recall personal thoughts about such events; Older adults recall facts and semantic info related to those events (Backman et al., 2001; Levine et al., 2002). Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Adulthood and Aging Marion G. Mason Figure 8.3 Autobiographical Bump. Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Adulthood and Aging Marion G. Mason Memory Performance Across Adulthood Episodic Memory  Possible reasons for autobiographical memory bump: 1. Most important events in life are concentrated in adolescence and young adulthood 2. Many first time events are powerful because of their first time status and thus stand out in memory (Jansari & Parkin, 1996) 3. Adults have more time to rehearse older memories (Bernstein & Rubin, 2002) 4. Memories recalled contribute to sense of identity (Birren & Schroots, 2006; Conway, 2003) Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Adulthood and Aging Marion G. Mason Memory Performance Across Adulthood Episodic Memory  Flashbulb Memories (cont’d)  Factual details (semantic) 1. What day of the week was September 11, 2001 2. What time did the first plane crash into the WTC tower? 3. What time did the third plane crash into the Pentagon? 4. Where did the fourth plane crash? 5. Did the north tower or the south tower of the WTC collapse first? 6. What were the flight numbers and carriers of the four planes involved? Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Adulthood and Aging Marion G. Mason Memory Performance Across Adulthood Episodic Memory  Flashbulb Memories (cont’d)  Individuals who report a greater emotional reaction to 9/11 more accurate with semantic memory (or factual details) (Smith, Bibi, & Sheard, 2003).  Individuals who were physically closer to the WTC remembered more factual details (semantic) (Pezdek, 2003).  Individuals who were physically farther to WTC remembered more personal details (episodic) (Pezdek, 2003). Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Adulthood and Aging Marion G. Mason Memory Performance Across Adulthood Episodic Memory Individual differences in memory performance  Those with episodic memories: - Individuals with higher education (perform better on memory tasks) - Women have better episodic memories than men (Backman et al., 2001) Extent of memory deterioration varies among individuals Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Adulthood and Aging Marion G. Mason Memory Performance Across Adulthood Nonepisodic Memory  Semantic Memory (cont.)  Retrieval and organization of concepts and items remains strong with age when done regularly (Backman et al., 2001) - Word knowledge remains strong till 90s (Hoyer & Verhaeghen, 2006) - However, older adults have difficulty in remembering new facts (e.g., names of people recently met) (Craik, 2003; Kensinger & Corkin, 2003) Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Adulthood and Aging Marion G. Mason Figure 8.4 Changes in Working Memory, Short-Term Memory, Long-Term Memory, Speed, and Verbal Knowledge from the 20s to the 80s. From Park, Lautenschlager, Hedden, Davidson, Smith, & Smith (2002, p. 305). Copyright by the American Psychological Association. Reprinted with permission. Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Adulthood and Aging Marion G. Mason Memory Errors, Improvement Strategies, and Training  Memory deficits common to all adults  Deficits occur in:  Remembering precise verbal information (e.g., punch line of a joke) (Reese & Cherry, 2004)  Spatial location (e.g., remembering directions to a certain location) (Reese & Cherry, 2004)  Memory improving strategies:  Effort and practice (Hoyer & Verhaeghen, 2006; Kramer et al., 2006)  Good physical health; Healthy diet and physical fitness (Hoyer & Verhaeghen, 2006) Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Adulthood and Aging Marion G. Mason Memory Errors, Improvement Strategies, and Training Individual Memory Improvement Strategies Internal strategies:  Most studied is Mnemonics: creating artificial bonds/connections among items to increase retrieval - Acronym: making a word out of first letters of items to be remembered (ROY G BIV) - Acrostic: making sentences using words that start with same letters as to-be-remembered words in same order (e.g., Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally) - Songs and rhymes (e.g., Alphabet Song) Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Adulthood and Aging Marion G. Mason Memory Errors, Improvement Strategies, and Training Individual Memory Improvement Strategies  Internal strategies (cont’d):  Pictorial mnemonic: linking information to images/pictures (younger and middle aged adults benefit more)  Peg-word mnemonic: combination of acrostics, rhymes, images - Useful when items that need to be remembered must be recalled in a particular order. - First step is associate words that rhyme with numbers on a list (one and gun; two and zoo…..) - Second step: to visualize first item you need to remember as being shot out of a gun, visualize second item as being in a zoo.  Method-of-loci: associating to-be-remembered items with familiar locations Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Adulthood and Aging Marion G. Mason Memory Errors, Improvement Strategies, and Training 1. Gun 2. Zoo 3. Tree 4. Door 5. Hive 1. Oranges (being fired from a gun) 2. Butter (elephant stomping on a stick of butter) 3. Paper towels (tree w/ paper towels for leaves) 4. Soap (door made from soap) 5. Bread (bees flying from a loaf of bread) Individual Memory Improvement Strategies  Internal strategies (cont’d): Peg-word mnemonic (example)