Ageing Flashcards
Processing speed
The speed at which someone is able to understand and react to information e.g. recognising patterns, decision making
True or false, older adults tend to have slower processing speeds ?
TRUE
What are the 3 types of attention?
- Selective Attention
- Divided Attention
- Substained Attention
Selective attention
Focus on relevant information
Attend to relevant info, filter our irrelevant info
Divided attention
Performing two or more tasks at one e.g. walking and talking
Sustained attention
Maintain attention over time.
Other factors may play a part
Task difficulty and physical difficulty
What test can be used to test selective attention?
Stroop test - reaction times when stimuli are congruent and incongruent
What are the 3 types of memory ?
Episodic, working and semantic
Episodic memory
Everyday events e.g. time and location.
Working memory
Temporary store of information for decision-making e.g. reading a recipe
What is a test for working memory ?
Digit span test
Semantic memory
General knowledge of the world e.g. facts, ideas, concepts
Auditory comprehension in ageing
A complex process
Various models to explain it
Happens rapidly
Study which tested auditory comprehension in adults?
Meunier study-syntactically ambiguous sentences.
What are the five stages of speech production?
Conceptual
Syntactic
Lexical
Phonological
Phonetic
Conceptual speech production stage
Where speaker identifies the meanings they want to communiate
Lexical speech production stage
Speaker searches for and selects words based on meaning
Syntactic stage of speech production
Frame is chosen for sentence structure
Phonological stage of speech production
Where abstract information is converted to speech sounds
Phonetic stage of speech production
Instructions are prepared to be sent to the articulators
Tip-of -the-tongue
We know what we want to say, but cannot produce it
Transmission deficit hypothesis
Connections between the various levels within the psycholinguistic model can become weakened for various different reasons
Language - reading
Does not decline with age
Slower due to visual difficulties
Visiospatial function
How we relate visual information to the space around us e.g. movement, depth and distance
Tests used for visiospatial function
Benton judgement of line orientation test
Triangle-to-completion task
What is an example of visiospatial decline due to age?
Navigation
Executive function
Enables us to regulate, control and manage thoughts and actions e.g. planning and problem solving
Which part of the brain is associated with executive function?
Frontal lobe
Which tests can assess executive function?
Clock test
Tower of London takes
Ferguson et al (2021)
Suggests planning and inhibitory control declines across adulthood
What sensory change occurs due to age ?
Presbyopia
What is presbyopia
Difficulty reading small print
Non-modifiable risks
Age, race, ethnicity, gender and genetics
Modifiable risks
Diabetes, head injuries, lifestyle and education
Non-pharmalogical lifestyle intervention
Physical activity, healthy diet (med rich) and cognitive training
Physical activity can have a positive effect on what ?
Synaptic function
What are the positive effects of physical activity on ageing?
Contribute to vascularisation and residence against oxidative stress, which has a positive effect on cognitive functions.
Med rich diet
Olive oil and nuts
