Cognitive abilities across the lifespan

Question 1

What is the reminiscence bump?

Answer 1

People over the age of 40 remember more memories between 15-30 years of their life. This effect only occurs for positive memories and is universal.

Question 2

What does deferred imitation in infants show?

Answer 2

That infants do have a developed long-term memory from 6 months

Question 3

What cognitive skill is particularly important for infants before they are able to crawl?

Answer 3

The ability to form long term associations between objects (as infants are reliant on what others show them)

Question 4

Which short term memory capacity develops faster, verbal or visual?

Answer 4

The answer is visual ~
Verbal short term memory capacity: 4 items for 5 year olds, 6-7 items for 12 year olds.
Visual short term memory capacity: 4 items by the end of the first year –i.e. adult capacity

Question 5

What is implicit memory?

Answer 5

Associative memory, unconscious priming

Question 6

Which develops later, implicit or explicit memory?

Why?

Answer 6

Implicit develops early - brain regions mature early
Explicit develops later - corresponding brain regions mature later, explicit memory requires more complex cognitive processes such as memory strategies

Question 7

What is the day-night task?

Answer 7

A task similar to the Stroop task,
measures inhibition of automatic response ability,
adapted to be suitable for children, who may not read fluently

Question 8

What is the cohort effect?

Answer 8

Cohort effect – changes in education, society, health, nutrition etc. occur over time, and these may affect cognition. Our experiences are more similar to those of people of the same age compared to those who are older or younger

Question 9

Does IQ change over the lifespan?

Answer 9

IQ stays the same relative to others of the same age as you, over the lifespan

Question 10

Do semantic and implicit memory decline with age?

Answer 10

No, semantic and implicit memories (associations) are relatively preserved with age

Question 11

Does episodic memory decline with age, for recall and/or recognition of stimuli?

Answer 11

Yes, episodic memory declines for both recall and recognition

Question 12

Is the decline in name-face associative recognition with ageing due to a decrease in attention?

Answer 12

No, it is not due to decrease in attention, as shown by Naveh- Benjamin et al. (2004). It is more likely to do with the decrease in working memory.

Question 13

Which area of the brain shows the greatest volume change with ageing?

Answer 13

The lateral prefrontal cortex, although the hippocampus also declines from around age 50

Question 14

What types of memory are impaired early in the development of Alzheimer’s disease?

Answer 14

Episodic and semantic memory are impaired earlier than other types of memory and cognitive abilities

Question 15

Which cognitive abilities decline initially in Alzheimer’s disease?

Answer 15

Memory abilties decline sooner than other cognitive abilities

Question 16

Which brain region is affected by Alzheimer’s disease, but not as much by typical ageing?

Answer 16

The hippocampus is more reduced in older adults with Alzheimer’s than typically ageing adults.

Question 17

Are frontal brain regions significantly different in people with Alzheimer’s disease and typically ageing adults?

Answer 17

No, frontal volumes are lower for both groups.