2: cognitive and social ageing Flashcards
where is brain volume most lost In the brain
frontal lobes, also widespread, e.g. hippocampus in temporal lobe
how many neurons does the hippocampus lose by 80
20-30%
what is fluid cognitive ability
think logically without relying on learned knowledge or experience.
how does fluid cognitive ability age
peaks in early adult hood and declines in age
crystallised intelligence
involves knowledge accrued throughout life and experience. e,g, through education. involves general knowledge
how does crystallised intelligence react to age
tends to improve pr remain stable with age
which memory tasks decline at a steep rate and why
working memory tasks, like digit span, as it relies on fluid ability
working memory with age
digit span shows minimal declines with age
- when relied upon by executive processes, the decline tends to be greater
prospective memory and age
- ability to remember to do something in the future
- declines with age
episodic memory and age
ability to recall specific events or expeirnves from life
- declines with age
semantic memory and age
involves knowledge of facts and general info
- stable and could increase over life
Associative deficit hypothesis
reduced processing capacity for binding information together in memory rather than general memory loss
example of associative deficit hypothesis
for example, older adults may be able to remember specific words from list, but not the voice that called them. cannot bind the item with the voice
study to back up associative deficit hypothesis
Naveh-Benjamin 2004
compared ability of younger and older adults to remember individual items and associations between items
Results of Naveh-Benjamin (2004)
OAs showed significant deficit in tasks requiring them to remember connections between items e.g. which face was paired with a name
Aging affects the ability to form and retrieve associations - contributes to real world tasks like remembering peoples faces and names
what is the most common type of dementia
- Alzheimer’s (50%)
what does an Alzheimers diagnosis require
requires a memory impairment and 2 other cognitive deficits e.g executive functions and language difficulties
Where does Alzheimers effect
medial temporal lobes, hippocampus, episodic memory e.g verbal and visual material
semantic memory begins to decrease with progression
how does physical activity effect cognitive ageing
regular exercise increases blood flow and supports growth of neurons in areas like the hippocampus. can help natural decline in brain volume in ageing.
it helps delay onset of cognitive decline and may reduce risk of developing dementia
study to back up physical activity and cognitive ageing
harvard ageing brain study
- people who stay physically active tend to maintain better cognitive function into older age compared to those who don’t
mental activity and cognitive ageing
ingoing in intellectual stimulating tasks e.g. staying socially active, cross words, life long learning
older adults may be able to delay decline with mental activity
describe park et al (2004) study
assessed active learning against a passible (but social) group placebo as well as a wait list control
participants who engaged in active learning showed significant improvements in episodic memory compared to placebo group
multiple stereotypes
isn’t one type of older person who comes to mind
age-related sterotyping
Schmidt and bolan (1986)
asked YAs to list traits they associate with OAs
clusters were chronological e.g. wrinkles, retired
negative e.g. sick and sad
positive e.g.wise and wealthy
there were more negative than positive words
what is perceived incompetence
older people are perceived as high In warmth and low incompetence
what emotional response does this predict
this predicts a response of pity in others
this can result in helping behaviours from others or passive harm e.g neglect
can be insulting e.e people speak slower
what is self stereotyping and how does thus impact health
assimilate behaviours consistent with stereotypes. can operate unconsciously
can affect mental and physical functioning and health, as well as cardiovascular
study to back up self sterotyping
Levy (1996)- OAs exposed to negative sterotypes- reduced memory performance
what is stereotype threat
- operates unconsciously
- stereotype behaviour brought about by anxiety associated with confirming stereotype
hess et al (2023) stereo type threat
YA’s and OAs shown newspaper articles about ageing and memory to induce sterotypes
OAs in high threat conditions performed worse in memory tasks
YAs showed no variation in performance at all
positive sterotypes
those with positive views show better health
retirement and health
- neither harms or benefits health
- no clear relationship between retirement and mental health
- most people experience a small increase in life satisfaction following retirement.
retirement and volunteering
- positive effects on OAs
- increased well-being
-social interaction
