9.2 Flashcards
cross sectional methods do not take into account
cohort effects-influences attributable to growing up in a particular era
plasticity
the degree to which a developing structure or behaviour is susceptible to changes based on experience
use it or lose it hypothesis
associated with plasticity
episodic memories
relate to specific life experiences, such as when you first visited Vancouver
-memory declines that do occur and limited primarily to episodic
semantic memories
general knowledge and facts
implicit memories
memories about which people are not consciously aware, such as how to ride a bike
Memory capacity changes during old age.
short-term memory slips gradually until age 70, when the decline becomes more pronounced.
autobiographical memory
memories of information about ones own life
Pollyanna principle
in which pleasant memories are more likely to be recalled than unpleasant memories. Similarly, people tend to forget information that is not congruent with the way they currently see themselves.
ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS.
Certain environmental factors common to many older adults can cause declines in memory. For example, older adults often take prescription drugs that hinder memory, and this, rather than age per se, might account for their lower performance on memory tasks.
In addition, retirees, no longer facing job challenges, might use their memory less. Further, their motivation to recall information might be lower than before, and they might be less motivated than younger people to do their best in experimental testing situations.
INFORMATION-PROCESSING DEFICITS.
Memory declines might also be linked to changes in information-processing capabilities. The ability to inhibit irrelevant information and thoughts that interfere with problem solving may decrease, and the speed of information-processing can decline (Bashore et al., 1998; Palfai et al., 2003; Salthouse et al., 2003).
Another information-processing view suggests that older adults lose the ability to concentrate on new material and have difficulty paying attention to appropriate stimuli and organizing material in memory. According to this information-processing-deficit approach, which has substantial research support, older adults use less efficient processes to retrieve information from memory. This leads to declines in recall abilities
BIOLOGICAL FACTORS
The last of the major approaches concentrates on biological factors. According to this view, memory changes are a result of brain and body deterioration. For instance, declines in episodic memory may be related to the deterioration of the frontal lobes of the brain or a reduction in estrogen. Some studies also show a loss of cells in the hippocampus, which is critical to memory. However, some memory deficits occur without any evidence of underlying biological deterioration
