Ch. 6 Basic Cognitive Functions: Information Processing, Attention, and Memory Flashcards

1
Q

reaction time

A

how many seconds lapse between stimuli onset and reaction to it

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2
Q

attention

A

in a crowded room, what are the processes needed to focus on one aspect

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3
Q

brinley plot

A

performance of older adults is plotted against performance by younger adults, revealing that as the task becomes more difficult (requires more time), older adults are disproportionately slower

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4
Q

age-related effects

A
  • driving
  • aware of individual differences
  • walking around young children
  • giving verbal instructions → acknowledging what is said
    online customer service
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5
Q

approaches to understanding

A
  • general slowing hypothesis
  • inhibitory deficit model
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6
Q

general slowing hypothesis

A

loss of attentional resources → longer time to respond

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7
Q

inhibitory deficit model

A

inability to tune out irrelevant information
ex. grocery shopping → remembering where items are with other factors like conversations

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8
Q

stroop task

A
  • group of stimulus words that correspond with color that are presented in the same color font or different color
  • difference: magnitude with age in reaction time
  • very common task testing reaction time
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9
Q

videogames and attention

A
  • demand quick decisions, response speed, hand-eye coordination, tracking multiple inputs
  • young adults show advantages, but self-reflection plays a role
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10
Q

research with older adults faces many difficulties with videogames

A
  • best games are not enjoyable
  • programs change
  • software malfunctions
  • hardware malfunctions
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11
Q

older adults prefer:

A
  • sudoku
  • solitaire
  • hearts
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12
Q

driving and aging

A

stereotypical beliefs about being stuck behind elderly drivers
- slow driving
- petite individual who cannot see over wheel
- two-handed steering

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13
Q

the useful field of view

A
  • decreases with age
  • implications for number of collisions
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14
Q

confusion on the road

A
  • difficult signs
  • require time to perceive and interpret
  • there are some older individuals who do not experience this
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15
Q

drivers with BACs of 0.8 or higher

A
  • only the survivors grow older
  • may have not drank when younger
  • cannot look at fatal accidents due to them being dead → not just age
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16
Q

national highway traffic safety

A
  • item word listing = problems with validity
  • able to assess and are accurate in assessment
  • identity affects efficacy
  • problematic measure
  • sex, gender, cultural, geographic differences
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17
Q

steps older adults can take to improve their driving

A
  • exercise to increase strength and flexibility
  • avoid drug-drug interactions
  • vision tests
  • drive during daylight and good weather
  • find safest routes (well-lit streets, arrows at lights, easy parking)
  • plan route before driving
  • leave enough room in front
  • avoid distractions (including food)
  • consider alternatives to driving
18
Q

biopsychosocial model of driving

A
  • bio: mobility, strength, coordination, pain
  • psycho: acuity, night vision, headline glare, anxiety, confusion
  • social: attitudes, availability of transportation
19
Q

rotaries or roundabouts can help reduce accidents

A
  • no stop signs
  • help organize approach
  • low travel speed
  • no light to beat
  • one-way travel
20
Q

working memory

A
  • organizing, coordinating, keeping track of
  • supported through frontal lobes functions and sensory functions
  • theological
21
Q

central executive

A
  • main piece
  • focus attention, organizing so we can use; oversees everything
22
Q

phonological loop

A
  • branches of central executive
    processes spoken language;
  • acoustic store
  • articulatory loop
23
Q

acoustic store

A

how something sounds

24
Q

articulatory loop

A

how something is articulated

25
Q

episodic buffer

A
  • branches of central executive
  • short-term to long-term memory
26
Q

visuo-spatial scratchpad

A
  • branches of central executive
  • mental image of where things are
27
Q

default network

A
  • when processing the scene or monitoring the environment
  • no particular task: red and yellow
  • specific task: blue and green areas of brain
28
Q

working memory task

A
  • over time, letters are displayed
  • ask if letters are seen before and ask how many before
  • audio-visual memory
  • declines significantly with age; primary aging
29
Q

long-term memory

A
  • episodic memory
  • remote memory
  • semantic memory
  • procedural memory
    -implicit memory
30
Q

episodic memory

A
  • impairments in encoding and retrieval
  • depends on integrity of connections in frontal cortex, temporal and parietal lobes, areas of subcortex (thalamus- sensory relay station)
  • age-related changes to white matter (myelinated axons- speed up processing)
31
Q

normal aging of episodic memory

A
  • these structural changes may be compensated by heightened activity in the PFC
  • keep area active
  • scaffolding theory
32
Q

scaffolding memory

A
  • adults can recruit alternate neural circuits
    ex. surgery → open, laparoscopic
  • life course factors
    education, stress, exposure to toxins
33
Q

remote memory

A
  • increasingly difficult to access
  • exception of autobiographical memory → reminiscence bump
    ex. sixth birthday; specific
34
Q

semantic memory

A

facts; no decline in normal aging

35
Q

procedural memory

A

how to start a car

36
Q

implicit memory

A

cultural experiences

37
Q

normal age-related decline in memory changes

A
  • episodic memory
  • source memory
  • false memory
  • retrieval failure
  • prospective memory
38
Q

memory abilities that stay the same

A
  • semantic memory
  • flashbulb memory → super clear from long ago and intensive of particular moment
  • implicit memory
  • procedural memory
39
Q

psychosocial influences on memory

A

stress and depression
- less likely to pay attention
memory self-efficacy
- the more they believe it and less that can be remembered
stereotype threat
- talking very loudly at older adults
- part of central executive job

40
Q

health-related influences on memory

A
  • do not smoke
  • balanced diet
  • aerobic exercise
  • strength training