Key question Flashcards
What is the key question ?
How can psychologists’ understanding of memory help patients with dementia ?
How does dementia affect an individual ?
Memory loss, poor judgement & confusion
What are death rates for dementia at the present time ?
11.4%
What is the cost of dementia to society ?
£34.7b a year
What help is available ?
Dementia charities e.g. Alzheimer’s society
What government campaigns are available ?
Department of Health launched a campaign supported by Alzheimer’s society which encourages people to talk to loved ones that are showing signs of dementia
How can understanding memory help dementia patients & carers ?
Allows psychologists to assess & better diagnose dementia, & have better understanding of how dementia affects the brain so can take care of them
What brain structure is affected first with Alzheimer’s disease ?
Hippocampus = harder to form new memories & learn new information
What brain structure is affected later with Alzheimer’s disease ?
Amygdala = often recall emotional aspects over facts
What brain structure becomes thinner with Alzheimer’s disease ?
Cortex = memories from long ago are lost
What happens to the brain overrall with Alzheimer’s disease ?
Shrinks
What does damage to the left hemisphere do ?
Linked to problems with semantic memory & language = struggle to find right word for something
What does damage to the visual system in the temporal lobes do ?
Recognising familiar faces & objects harder
What does the pathways for vision & hearing being separate mean ?
Know who person is when they speak
What does damage to the right parietal lobe do ?
Problems with judging distances in 3 dimensions
What does damage to the frontal lobes do ?
Struggle with decision making, planning or organising
What abilities are retained ?
Learned skills & memories from a long time ago
What is Cognitive Stimulation Therapy ?
- Showing objects or experiences that stimulate old memories
- Best for mild to moderate dementia
- Stimulates procedural memory = LTM involved in performance in different actions & skills
- Helps look at episodic memory
What is Validation Therapy ?
- Enter their reality instead of forcing them into our reality
- e.g. Hogeway = care home in Netherlands with extreme dementia & can go join clubs, perform music etc.
How is Baddeley supporting research ?
- Series of dual tasks using visual & verbal tasks together or separately
- ## Performance of Alzheimer group did not differ significantly from other groups performing verbal or visual task but showed significant impairment when doing them together
