Chapter 5 Cognitive Changes with Aging

Question 1

Cognitive functioning refers to:

Answer 1

a) intelligence
b) learning
c) memory
Age-related physiological changes may affect these three elements

Question 2

Intelligence is difficult to define; it is:

Answer 2

a) the theoretical limit of a person’s performance (Jones, 1959)
b) to judge well, to comprehend well, and to reason well (Binet & Simon, 1905)
c) composed by 3 dimensions (Guilford, 1967, 1966):
1) content, 2) operations, and 3) products

Question 3

The content of knowledge includes
What are the operations to be performed with this knowledge?
The products derived from these operations are
This model, difficult to test, produces a total of

Answer 3

-includes figures, symbols and words
-The operations to be performed with this knowledge are to memorize, to evaluate, and to come up with 1 or > solutions
-systems and implications
120 separate components

Question 4

The primary mental abilities are:

Answer 4

a) number/mathematical reasoning
b) word fluency (description of the world by using the appropriate words)
c) vocabulary level/verbal meaning
d) ability to generalize from specific facts to concepts/inductive reasoning
e) ability to orient self in a 3D space/spatial orientation;
f) memory; and g) perceptual speed

Question 5

Fluid intelligence =

Answer 5

biologically determined skills, similar to “native intelligence”, requires flexibility in thinking (spatial orientation, perceptual speed & abstract reasoning)

Question 6

________________ occur with aging

Answer 6

Structural changes in neural pathways

Question 7

Crystallized intelligence =

Answer 7

abilities and knowledge that people obtain through experiences and education (verbal comprehension, social judgment & word association)

Question 8

________ and _______ affects older adults’ test performance

Answer 8

Anxiety, time restraints

Question 9

Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS)

Answer 9

= 11 subtests, 6 are verbal scales & 5 are performance scales

Question 10

The Classic Aging Pattern =

Answer 10

older adults often perform worse on performance scales only

Question 11

Remember that _________ may be picking up ________, not ________

Answer 11

cross-sectional studies, cohort differences, age changes

Question 12

Intellectual functioning peaks

Answer 12

In the late 40s and 50s

Question 13

Test performance is affected by many factors, such as:

Answer 13

a) poor health in general
b) nutritional deficits
c) cardiovascular disease
d) sensory deficits (hearing & vision loss)
e) hypertension
f) education
g) conducting mechanistic vs. complex work

Question 14

Maybe younger people perform better at tests due to

Answer 14

to higher educational attainment

Question 15

Lawyers & teachers

Architects & engineers

Answer 15

practice their verbal skills more

as they age, are still strong on performance tests

Question 16

Terminal decline hypothesis =

Answer 16

there is a quick deterioration in cognitive functioning within 5 years of death

Question 17

Learning =

Answer 17

process of encoding/putting into memory skills or new information

Question 18

Memory =

Answer 18

process of recalling/retrieving information stored in the brain when needed
Recall is often a problem for older adults

Question 19

Sensory memory =

Answer 19

people receive information through the sense organs & this memory passes it on to primary or secondary memory

Question 20

Primary memory =

Answer 20

a working memory, a temporary stage of organizing and holding information (7 + or - 2 words, letters or digits)

Question 21

Secondary memory =

Answer 21

permanent memory store; information must be rehearsed actively to be retained

Question 22

Sensory memory has 2 main components:

Answer 22

a) iconic (visual) memory
b) echoic (auditory) memory
With age, there are some modest but important declines in iconic memory

Question 23

True learning =

Answer 23

= information has been stored in the secondary memory

Question 24

Information processing model of memory (party example):

Answer 24

1) sensory memory hears people’s names spoken
2) primary memory stores the information temporarily
3) if the information is put in the secondary memory, it is because the person has repeated the name several times
Multiple new names flood the sensory memory

Question 25

Problems related to test environment for older adults are:

Answer 25

a) time constraints
b) lighting levels
c) tone & loudness of test-giver’s voice
d) size of print

Question 26

___________ declines with age, therefore memory tests become harder

Answer 26

Perceptual speed

Question 27

Older adults tend to make ________ than ___________

Answer 27

more errors of omission (give no answer), errors of commission

Question 28

Performance levels on familiar perceptual-motor tasks (like typing) are

Answer 28

stable among older adults

Question 29

_________ may intimidate older adults

Answer 29

Tachistoscopes

Question 30

________ is required in multiple tests, ________ in essay exam

Answer 30

Recognition, recall

Question 31

In free recall..

Cued recall situations….

Answer 31

no aids are given

give the 1st letter of a word or category labels

Question 32

Older adults may

possibly because

Answer 32

recall past events better than recent ones (hard to measure)
possibly because new information interferes with old one = interference theory

Question 33

Spatial memory

Answer 33

memory (remembering where things are around a community or using a map) declines with age

Question 34

Aids for the older adults’ cognitive abilities are:

Answer 34

1) cognitive retraining

2) the development of new medications

Question 35

To help older adults with cognitive retraining, we can use techniques such as:

Answer 35

a) visual mediators = the method of locations (or loci) = visual links between already stored information and new information to be memorized
b) mnemonics = verbal riddles, codes and rhymes associated with new information
c) putting phone numbers into a mathematical formula
d) external aids, like charts listing people’s routine

Question 36

Wisdom requires:

Answer 36

a) experience
b) introspection
c) reflection
d) intuition
e) empathy

Question 37

To become a “wise elder/older adult”, people:

Answer 37

a) must have housing, income and health under control; b) cannot be impulsive, and c) must reflect on all aspects of a situation

Question 38

The 3 components of wisdom are:

Answer 38

a) cognitive thinking
b) affective thinking
c) reflective thinking

Question 39

Successful aging =

Answer 39

= high older adults’ life satisfaction = high scores on cognitive thinking, affective thinking, & reflective thinking

Question 40

Creativity = ability to:

Answer 40

a) come up with original products

b) apply unique solutions to new situations

Question 41

Creativity:

Answer 41

a) is measured based on the person’s output
b) cannot be predicted
c) can be tested by a test of divergent thinking = creating multiple solutions for unfamiliar tasks