PSYC 322 - MIDTERM 3 (textbook)

processing speed

amount of time it takes for an individual to analyse incoming information from the sense, formulate decisions and prepare a response on the basis of that analysis

reaction time

most basic measure of processing speed

what does researchers know with certainty about reaction time

reaction time for younger adults will be lower than when the individual is older

what are the 2 hypothesis that explain why reaction times slow as people age

• general slowing hypothesis

• age complexity hypothesis

general slowing hypothesis (GSH)

increase in reaction time that reflects a decline of information processing speed within the nervous system

age complexity hypothesis

proposes that through slowing of central processes in the nervous system, older adults perform more poorly as the tasks become more complex and their processing resources are more to their limit

what is the age complexity hypothesis reflected in

brinley plot

what is plotted against each other on the brinley plot

reaction times of older groups of adults plotted against the times of younger adults

what are older and young adults similar in on the brinley plot

similar performance when the tasks are relatively easy

what are older and young adults different in on the brinley plot

tasks that take longer for young adults to complete, older adults take even longer

what is the GSH consistent with

it is consistent with a large body of data on reaction time performance in adulthood

what does the GSH not identify

it does not identify any component of information processing as the cause for age differences in reaction time

what assumption does GSH have

assumption that the slowing reflects lack of efficiency in the central rather than the peripheral nervous system

attention

ability to focus or concentrate on a portion of experience while ignoring other features of that experience, to be able to shift focus and to be able to coordinate information from multiple sources

attention deficit disorder

people who may have difficulty learning new information or performing more than one task at a time

what are the 4 types of attentional tasks

• visual search tasks

• simple visual search

• conjunction visual

• sustained attention task

visual search tasks

requires the observer locate a specific target among a set of distractors

simple visual search

the target differs from the other stimuli by only one feature

conjunction visual search

the target differs from the distractors in more than one way

sustained attention task

participants must respond when they see a particular target appear out of a continuous stream of stimuli

what do researchers propose that simple visual search rely on

it relies on parallel processing

what is parallel processing

ability to scan the whole array at once just by looking for the one feature that matches the target

what are the age differences for simple visual search

both age groups perform at similarly high levels

what do researchers propose that conjunction search rely on

it relies on the more time consuming task of serial processing

why does conjunction search rely on more time consuming task of serial processing

• because each stimulus must be examined in sequence to determine whether it has all the qualities of the target

• the larger the number of stimuli to scan, the longer the participant will take to decide if target is present

what are the age differences for conjunction search

• both age groups perform less efficiently than simple search tasks

• but the cost to performance is higher for older adults

why is it harder for older adults for conjunction search

because they require more eye movments while processing the stimuli

what do older adults benefit from (2)

• compared to younger adults, they benefit from background cues

• they also benefit from training that gives them practice and guidance

what is the price ppl pay when multitasking

the quality of their performance

does the disadvantages of multitasking increase or decrease

it increases progressively in older age groups

inhibitory control

older adults having difficulty turning off one response while performing another

what test is good for testing inhibitory attention

stroop test

what do people with good inhibitory control do in the stroop test

they can state the colour name without being distracted by colour of letters

what are the age differences in sustained attention task

older adults have more difficulty than younger adults

why is it harder for older adults for sustained attention task

because they take longer to shift their focus from trial to trial

what can older adults remember in attention tasks

they can remember the location of an item presented in a visual display and may be even more efficient in this task than younger adults despite being processing information slower

how else can attention be preserved in older adults

practicing can help activate different areas of the brain that can improve their performance

what are the 2 theories of attention and aging

• attentional resources theory

• inhibitory deficit hypothesis

attentional resources theory (ART)

• regards attention as a process reflecting the allocation of cognitive resources

• idea that when we focus on an object, we must dedicate a certain proportion of our mental operations

according to the ART, older adults..

they have greater difficulty on attentional tasks because they have less energy available for cognitive operations

inhibitory deficit hypothesis (IDH)

suggests that aging reduces the individual’s ability to inhibit or tune our irrelevant information

what does IDH imply

it implies that middle aged and older adults perform best when they have few distractions

what is one of the potential source of distraction

• their concern over how they are performing may cause them to perform more poorly

• the more they worry, the less able they are to concentrate on task

what do ppl who are more worried about aging of their cognitive abilities engage in

identity accommodation, process that contribute to power performance

what did more recent research suggest about IDH

that older adults are not entirely disadvantaged

how are older adults not disadvantaged for IDH (3)

• they can benefit from practice

• by activating their frontal lobes in a compensatory manner

• if stimuli is presented in two modalities - capable of showing results similar to young adults

what can the deficits shown by older adults be explained by

• their life time’s accumulation of knowledge

• as they have more experience, they have more information to sort through when making a decision

rates for car crash

drivers who are age 70 and older have higher crash rates than middle aged drivers but these rates are lower than younger drivers

why do older adults do that make them avoid many car crashes (5)

• ability to self regulate behaviours

• avoid driving at night

• self limit their driving if they become aware of limitations in their cognitive functioning

• more concerned about unsafe drivers on the road

• decade of experience

why are the number of older drivers continuing to grow

increased longevity of the baby boomer generation

research study on attitudes towards driving

older adults with attitudes that are more negative are more likely to restrict their driving

relationship between perceived health and self regulation of driving

older adults in poorer health have more negative attitudes towards driving and makes them more likely to self regulate their driving

working memory

keeps information temporarily avaliable and active in consciousness

what task is commonly used to test working memory

n back task

default network

circuit in the brain that is active when the brain is at rest while processing internal stimuli

what happens in tasks that involves working memory

other areas become activated and the default network becomes deactivated

what contributes to the age related changes in memory

• the ability to deactivate the default network

• instead of focusing on information that needs to be remembered, they use their cognitive resources on inwardly oriented stimuli

which 5 components of long term memory declines with age (FRESP)

• episodic memory

• source memory

• false memory

• retrieval failure

• prospective memory

which 4 components of long term memory does not declines with age (FIPS)

• semantic memory

• flashbulb memory

• implicit memory

• procedural memory

LTM

memory of past events held for long periods of time

episodic memory

long term memory for events

what do research suggests for episodic memory

• it declines with age both in encoding and retrieving memory

• age related damage to white matter may be associated with memory changes in these regions

scaffolding theory

• older adults being able to recruit alternate neural circuits as needed by tasks to make up for losses somewhere else in the brain

• working memory may decline but these declines can be circumvent by bringing compensatory mechanisms

remote memory

involves recall of information from the distant past

what is the myth that is not supported in remote memory

myth that older ppl can remember information from years ago better than recent information but no data supported

autobiographical memory

• recall of information from own past

• exception for remote memory

reminiscence bump

• many ppl seem to experience a reminiscence bump of clear memories from ages 10 to 30 years

• effect that is strong for happy memory

• believe that these memories are preserved because they are central to identity

what happens to remote memories that are not personally relevant

they fade with the passage of time

flashbulb memory

recall of information and distinction events that stand out from other memories

what happens when older adults form flashbulb memory

the emotional meaning that makes them distinct can enhance their ability to recall the events

semantic memory

• ability to recall word meanings and facts

• no declines in normal older adults

procedural memory

• recall of actions involved in a task

• no decline and holds up well with age

what were the results on older adults and procedural memory (2)

• not only did they show significant improvement in performance over a series of trials, they retained memory for the tasks for as long as two years with no decline in performance

• they performed as well as younger adults

implicit memory

• information that people acquire without the intention

• is not affected by aging process

source memory

recall of where or how an individual acquires information

age differences in source memory

older adults seem to have difficulty on source memory tasks when asked to judge where they saw an item on previous occasion

what are older adults more susceptible to for source memory

false or illusory memories

what might the age differences in source memory be due to

the tendency for older adults to form more global memories, the gists which leaves them open to false memories

how can older adults overcome their susceptibility to false memory

using prompts can help serve to strengthen memory

prospective memory

• recall of events to be performed in the future

• declines with age

what are the age differences in prospective memory

older adults appear to have more prospective memory slips than younger adults

how can the difficulties in prospective memory affect older individual

impact their quality of life

retrieval induced forgetting

unable to remember information that you knew at one time

what are the age differences in retrieval induced forgetting

older adults are more susceptible than younger adults

what did the evidence on brain imaging from the retrieval induced forgetting suggest

area of the brain used for phonological production is subject to age related neural declines and might explain retrieval failure in older adults

what is one important influence on retrieval failure

• frequency at which information is typically drawn upon for everyday use

• when older adults must search through their large storage of names, it takes more time and effort and might not be able to produce a correct answer

what else plays a role on the influence on retrieval failure

education may help buffer against some of the face naming deficits associated with aging

what does the identity process model predict

predicts that concern about memory loss can lead to identity accommodation that turns into a self fulfilling prophecy

what did evidence suggest about middle aged adults and age related changes in memory

they were highly sensitive to age related changes in memory

memory self efficacy

form of self efficacy that refers to the confidence you have in your memory

how does having memory self efficacy affect performance

affects how well you perform as ppl who are less confidence will lead to a downwards decline

what did the longitudinal research on self efficacy show

individuals who had the belief that their memory had declined, showed poorer memory performance over the course of the study

what influence's an older individual’s identity and self efficacy

• social attitudes towards aging

• more likely to experience stereotype threat

what did the research on stereotype threat suggest

suggests that the older person’s self identification as old contributed to lower memory test score due to older adults being stereotyped as having poorer memories

why is it difficult to overcome stereotype threat

difficult to resist the essentialist views of aging as involving inevitable memory decline

how does identification with negative images of aging interferes with memory performances in older adults

• lowering their feelings of self efficacy

• they become les able to take advantage of strategies, systematic procedures designed to enhance memory

when is the stereotype threat more pronounced

in the retrieval phase of memory rather than encoding

true or false, ppl vary in the way they respond to stereotype threat

true, sometimes older participants are the least affect by stereotype threat

what happens if older adults are encouraged to view aging from a positive perspective

their memory performance is enhanced, even in those who feel negatively about getting older

memory controllability

beliefs about the effects of the aging process on memory