Adult Development And Aging: Chapter 6: Basic Cognitive Functions: Information Processing, Attention, And Memory

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cognition

Back 1

how the mind works, attention, memory, intelligence, problem solving and the use of language.

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processing speed

Back 2

the rate at which it takes an individual to analyze incoming information

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reaction time

Back 3

measures processing speed

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simple reaction time tasks

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participants are instructed to make a response such as pushing the key as soon as they see the target, such as a red circle appearing on the screen in front of them.

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choice reaction time tasks

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participants must make one response for one stimulus and another response for a different stimulus. For example, they would push the ‘‘ F’’ button for a red circle and the ‘‘ J’’ button for a blue circle.

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reaction time: older vs. younger

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younger individuals will have faster reaction times than old individuals. rate at which an individual experiences this decrease in reaction time is variable

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general slowing process hypothesis

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participants must make one response for one stimulus and another response for a different stimulus. For example, they would push the ‘‘ F’’ button for a red circle and the ‘‘ J’’ button for a blue circle.

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age-complexity hypothesis

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that through a slowing of central processes in the nervous system, age differences increase as tasks become more complex and the older adult’s process-ing resources are stretched more and more to their limit

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attention

Back 9

ability to focus or concentrate on a portion of experience while ignoring other aspects of the experience, to be able to shift that focus as demanded by the situation, and to be able to coordinate information from multiple sources.

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visual search tasks

Back 10

which require that the observer locate a specific target among a set of distractors.

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simple visual search

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the target differs from the other stimuli by only one feature, such as shape, color, or size.

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Conjunction visual search

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the target differs from the distractors in more than one way. If the target is a red circle, the distractors could be red squares and blue circles. To register a correct response, the respondent must indicate that the target is present only when the field contains a stimulus of both the same color and shape.

Front 13

inhibitory control

Back 13

researchers try to determine whether older adults have difficulty turning off one response while per-forming another

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sustained attention

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

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attentional resource theory

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

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inhibitory deficit hypothesis

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

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event related potentials

Back 17

which measure the brain’s pattern of electrical activity in response to stimuli, older adults are less able to block out distracting stimuli when completing a task.

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where do older adults experience deficits

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prefrontal cortex: incapable of blocking out "noise"

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video games and young adults

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improved attentional capacity, more efficient eye movements, faster RTs, no speed-accuracy trade off.

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Useful Field of View

Back 20

tests people's ability to respond to stimuli in their periphery of their vision

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Young Adults Drivers

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participate in more risky driving behavior (DUIs, distracted driving)

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Older Adult Drivers

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compensatory behavior for declines in visual and cognitive abilities, avoid risky behaviors

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working memory

Back 23

keeps information temporarily available and active in consciousness. measured by N-back

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Baddeley's Working Memory Model

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phonological loop (auditory WM), visuospatial scratch pad (image WM), episodic buffer (recall from LTM), central executive

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default network

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a circuit in the brain that is active when the brain is at rest while processing internal stimuli. contains the hippocampus, parts of the prefrontal cortex, the parietal lobe, temporal lobe, and part of the cingulate cortex involved in visualization

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older adults vs. young adults: default network

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OA decreased activation of default network compared to YA counterparts

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long term memory

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information that is held for a period of time ranging from several minutes to a lifetime.

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processes of long term memory

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encoding, storage and retrieval

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episodic memory: older adults

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long term memory of events, older adults experience impairments in encoding and retrieving. dependent on integrity of frontal cortex, temporal and parietal lobes, and areas of the subcortex, including the thalamus.

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white matter hyperintensities

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age-related damage associated with impaired episodic memory

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scaffolding theory

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older adults are able to recruit alternate neural circuits as needed by task demands to make up for losses suffered elsewhere in the brain.

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remote memory

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recall of information from distant past

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autobiographical memory

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recall of information from own past

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reminiscence bump

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very clear memories for the ages of 10 to 30, particularly strong for happy memories

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flashbulb memories

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recall of important and distinctive events that stand out from other memories of past events.

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semantic memory

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ability to recall word meaning and factual information

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procedural memory

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recall actions involved in particular tasks

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implicit memory

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LTM that was not intended to be held

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source memory

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recall of where or how an individual acquires information. Older adults have greater difficulty with source memory. more susceptible to false or illusory memories.

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prospective memory

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encom-passes the recall of events to be performed in the future. OA have more slips of this kind

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retrieval induced forgetting

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what happens to you when you are unable to remember information that you knew at one time. Tip of the Tongue

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memory self efficacy

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

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memory controllability

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beliefs about the effects of the aging process on memory, such as the extent to which the individual believes that memory decline is inevitable with age.