HLM Exam #3 Flashcards
How does semantic memory change with old age?
Semantic memory is preserved over aging
Performance declines with age for…
1) speed of processing
2) working memory
3) long term memory
When does age-related memory decline start?
your 20s
considerations with timed studies
Older adults take 1.5x as long to do all tasks as younger adults so timed studies may need to be adjusted to compensate for this
- problem: this may cancel out the effect so this is hard
Designs for aging studies
1) cross sectional: compare compare 20yrs to 60 yrs
2) longitudinal: follow people across lifespan
Problems with cross-sectional designs
1) individual differences (variability across people)
2) cohort effects: major life events can influence results
3) correlational: you can not manipulate age so can not say cause and effect
4) confounding variables: can not be sure age is causing the effects you see (may be education or economic status)
5) physical health: older adults are overall less healthy and may be on medications that confound effects or have visual or auditory problems
Problems with longitudinal designs
1) practice effects: you may get better at a task as you practice over the years
2) drop-out effects: lose power
3) very expensive and requires commitment
STM and aging (+ how it is tested)
- STM generally declines with age
- tested with the Brown-peterson distractor paradigm
Episodic Memory and Aging (+ how it is tested)
study: recall 2 lists of unrelated words
- number of items recalled decreased with age
- however there is quite a bit of variability so it may not just be age
Individual variation in age and memory
- there is a strong decline in cognitive performance right before death (changes depending on lifespan for individuals)
- major life events: can cause a dip in memory but some people can recover (cognitive resilience)
Types of test and age
- free recall: age-related decline
- recognition: little to no age-related decline
Remembering vs. knowing and age
- remembering decreases with age
False Recall and age
worse memory for real events, more false recall
- hard to remember where they got information from
Presentation time and aging
- older adults: make many errors for quickly presented words
- if you slow presentation down, older adults have the biggest benefit
Self-pacing and aging
- older adults are aware that they need more time to complete cognitive tasks so if it is self paced, they will take this time (metacognition)
- different from children who recognize a task is harder but do not allot more time
Aging and Prospective Memory
- event based memory is in tact
- time based memory: challenging for older adults
Aging and Implicit Memory
no decline in implicit memory
Perspectives for why age-related memory decline occurs
1) speed of processing: we know this declines with age and we know speed of processing affects memory
2) reduced processing resources: deficits in attention - hard to engage in demanding tasks
3) automatic vs. controlled processing: related to attention / focus (recall requires control and this declines with age whereas recognition is automatic and does not decline)
4) contextual / environmental support: recognition vs. recall (what cues are you given?)
5) inhibition: hard time ignoring distracting information
- all of these are related to the frontal lobe
Neurology of aging
- frontal cortex most involved
- orbital frontal cortex: most involved with age
- overall cortical volume declines with age (drives attention, focus, general processing and resources)
How do we prevent age-related effects from happening?
- this is a cumulative effect: older = more time for habits
- behavioral, environmental and genetic factors
- behavioral factors: diet, exercise, social engagement
Functional threshold
when you can no longer live along
exercise and cognition
cardiovascular exercise improves cognition (most in executive, controlled, and spatial processing + speed of processing)
Collective Memory
a representation of the past that is shared by members of a group
- membership often forms a part of the individual’s identity
Individual memory
based on personal experience
- it can be shaped by the social group you are in but is specific to you
Flashbulb memory
very vivid memory of a moment in the past
- common ones: 9/11, Trump’s election, 1st covid lockdown
individual mixed with collective memory
a national event mixed with your personal experience of that event
Viewing collective memory as fixed
- looking at it as facts about our collective past (i.e. George Washington was the first president, Trump was elected in 2016 etc)
Collective Remembering
the active process of retrieving the past and using it in the present
- can change over generations (whether you remember the Vietnam war as justified or not)
Example of collective remembering: Invasion of Iraq
- some will say it was good: often those with WWII in their past because involvement in that war stopped Hitler
- some will say bad because it reminds them of the Vietnam war which did not end well
Ukraine and russia
due to conflicting memories of Ukraine’s past
Russian history and collective memory
often contested and changed - textbooks change under putin
History parameters
- aspires to be an objective account of the past
- recognizes complexity and ambiguity
- revises narrative based on new evidence
- is constrained by archival materials
Collective Memory of History
- involves identity and often favors an uplifting narrative
- not much space for ambiguity: relies on schemas that simplify the past and ignore counter evidence
- resistant to change
National Memory
- every nation promotes a different version of history
- very self-centered: how did events in the past affect US?
New Nationalism
- was a surge of neoliberalism: globalization with internet
- reemergence of nationalism now
constructivism
nations are socially constructed
- they are imagined but they have real world consequences
What is a nation defined by?
- history of collective memories
Self-centered national memory
- ethnocentrism: we overestimate our home country’s contributions to the world
- American exceptionalism: the idea that we are the example for other nations
Measuring Narcissism
- look at over-claiming of responsibility for nations and states –> always over 100% when added up (true for winning and losing too)
Can you reduce narcissistic bias?
- took a history quiz before and results the same - it doesn’t seem so
Why does nationalistic memory occur?
1) Possibly the availability heuristic (your country comes to mind most frequently making it seem larger)
2) ego-protection or ingroup bias: people believe groups they are a part of are above average
3) poor statistical reasoning: neglecting logic skills
Overview on techniques for studying Prospective Memory (PM)
1) present participants with an ongoing task (ex: words and rank their pleasantness)
2) Present PM instructions: if you see a key, press a different button
3) provide a delay + distraction
4) reintroduce ongoing task without PM instructions - do participants still do it?
Event based PM
an event provides a cue (put gas in car after school)
Time-based PM
time is the cue (put gas in car at 2:00pm)
Is event-based or time based easier?
event based is easier
experiment to discover event vs time based PM
Sellen (1997)
- people wear an active badge for 3 months
- event: click when you enter ___ room
- time: click at a specific hour of the day
- also indicate when thinking of tasks
- findings: better at event-based, thought about time more
Why is time-based harder?
there is no retrieval cue for time based memory
Can we turn time-based into event-based memory?
YES - with extra motivation people do this naturally