Age & Memory

Nota:

• Blanchard-fields and Hess(1996)

1. neuropsychological perspectives

   Nota:

   • Park & Schwarz (2002) chapter 6
   1. frontal lobe theory

      Nota:

      • West (1996)
   2. neural noise

      Nota:

      • Wellford
   3. sulci become more prominent due to cell loss
   4. reduced dendritic branching
   5. reduced concentration of NTs
   6. intracellular (within cell) changes
   7. reduced cerebral blood flow
   8. age related atrophy in hippocampus, frontal lobes and cerebellum
      1. similar to HM
2. memory

   Nota:

   • Park & Schwarz chapter 5 - discuss each memory type and evidence
   1. important to breakdown memory into different components...
   2. age differences increase as cognitive/environmental support decreases

      Nota:

      • Bunce et al (2003) cognitive support
   3. attribute age effects to memory system (episodic/semantic) or memory structure (LTM, WM etc)
3. LTM
   1. Episodic
      1. consistent eveidence for age deficits
      2. memory for life events
   2. Semantic
      1. no age effects
      2. world knowledge
   3. Procedural
      1. no age affects
      2. driving car
      3. playing piano
   4. primacy information
4. STM
   1. WM
      1. age effects
         1. processing component
      2. actively processing information 'on-line'
   2. Primary Memory
      1. no age effects
      2. passively holding information in mind
   3. recency information
5. Implicit vs explicit memory
   1. implicit - unconscious processes, no age effects
   2. explicit - conscious, age effects
      1. hippocampus and frontal lobes
         1. ageing adults show frontal lobe and explicit memory declines
   3. dissociation through Amnesic and Korsakoff patients