key question Flashcards
what is the key question
how can psychologists understanding of memory help people with dementia
what is dementia
a chronic or persistent disorder of the mental processes caused by brain disease or injury and marked by memory disorders. personality changes and impaired reasoning
what is alzheimers disease
progressive mental deterioration that can occur in middle or old age due to generalised degeneration of the brain. it is the most common cause of premature senility
why is the key question an important issue for society
the number of people diagnosed with dementia has been increasing. it is estimated that there will be 850,000 people in 2015 with dementia and predicted to raise by 1 million by 2025
1 in 3 people over 65 will die from dementia so is clear issue of relevance in society
dementia costs roughly £23 billion each year
people with dementia can be NHS patients or need nursing care in other institutions. and is set to rise to £27 billion so shows it means a great deal to the government
campaign to highlight ‘dementia friends’
application of concepts and ideas
dementia is not losing all of memory. some are still fully functioning. episodic memory can be affected. shown that episodic memory is separate to semantic and dementia only affecting episodic memory backs up this claim
STM can be affected and someone might forget what they have been told because that info has not been encoded. they have found a way to help is being more specific and using colour and pictures
working memory suggests that different tasks being done at the same time with the same processing can be difficult better if only one task is going on at once
reconstructive memory shows that reconstructing memory may bet muddled due to mixed schemas
how can knowledge of memory help
have found that asking more specific questions or using colour and pictures make it easier for people to use STM
working memory model helped show that if someone only does one tasks at a time they will find it easier
Stevyers and Hemmer found that if prior knowledge is displayed it will help with poor semantic memory
