Chapter 5 Cognitive Changes with Aging Flashcards
Cognitive functioning refers to:
a) intelligence
b) learning
c) memory
Age-related physiological changes may affect these three elements
Intelligence is difficult to define; it is:
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
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
-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
The primary mental abilities are:
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
Fluid intelligence =
biologically determined skills, similar to “native intelligence”, requires flexibility in thinking (spatial orientation, perceptual speed & abstract reasoning)
________________ occur with aging
Structural changes in neural pathways
Crystallized intelligence =
abilities and knowledge that people obtain through experiences and education (verbal comprehension, social judgment & word association)
________ and _______ affects older adults’ test performance
Anxiety, time restraints
Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS)
= 11 subtests, 6 are verbal scales & 5 are performance scales
The Classic Aging Pattern =
older adults often perform worse on performance scales only
Remember that _________ may be picking up ________, not ________
cross-sectional studies, cohort differences, age changes
Intellectual functioning peaks
In the late 40s and 50s
Test performance is affected by many factors, such as:
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
Maybe younger people perform better at tests due to
to higher educational attainment
Lawyers & teachers
Architects & engineers
practice their verbal skills more
as they age, are still strong on performance tests
Terminal decline hypothesis =
there is a quick deterioration in cognitive functioning within 5 years of death
Learning =
process of encoding/putting into memory skills or new information
Memory =
process of recalling/retrieving information stored in the brain when needed
Recall is often a problem for older adults
Sensory memory =
people receive information through the sense organs & this memory passes it on to primary or secondary memory
Primary memory =
a working memory, a temporary stage of organizing and holding information (7 + or - 2 words, letters or digits)
Secondary memory =
permanent memory store; information must be rehearsed actively to be retained
Sensory memory has 2 main components:
a) iconic (visual) memory
b) echoic (auditory) memory
With age, there are some modest but important declines in iconic memory
True learning =
= information has been stored in the secondary memory
Information processing model of memory (party example):
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
Problems related to test environment for older adults are:
a) time constraints
b) lighting levels
c) tone & loudness of test-giver’s voice
d) size of print
___________ declines with age, therefore memory tests become harder
Perceptual speed
Older adults tend to make ________ than ___________
more errors of omission (give no answer), errors of commission
Performance levels on familiar perceptual-motor tasks (like typing) are
stable among older adults
_________ may intimidate older adults
Tachistoscopes
________ is required in multiple tests, ________ in essay exam
Recognition, recall
In free recall..
Cued recall situations….
no aids are given
give the 1st letter of a word or category labels
Older adults may
possibly because
recall past events better than recent ones (hard to measure)
possibly because new information interferes with old one = interference theory
Spatial memory
memory (remembering where things are around a community or using a map) declines with age
Aids for the older adults’ cognitive abilities are:
1) cognitive retraining
2) the development of new medications
To help older adults with cognitive retraining, we can use techniques such as:
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
Wisdom requires:
a) experience
b) introspection
c) reflection
d) intuition
e) empathy
To become a “wise elder/older adult”, people:
a) must have housing, income and health under control; b) cannot be impulsive, and c) must reflect on all aspects of a situation
The 3 components of wisdom are:
a) cognitive thinking
b) affective thinking
c) reflective thinking
Successful aging =
= high older adults’ life satisfaction = high scores on cognitive thinking, affective thinking, & reflective thinking
Creativity = ability to:
a) come up with original products
b) apply unique solutions to new situations
Creativity:
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
