Psy 4072 Study GuideTopic: Information Processing, Attention, & MemoryChapter 6- General slowing hypothesiso Reaction times in older people are slower than that of younger peopleo The increase in reaction time reflects a general decline of information processingspeed within the nervous system of an aging individual - Selectivity, capacity and vigilance aspects of attentiono Selectivity- selected vs. inhibited information Early vs. late selection- use of dichotic listening tasks; cocktail party phenomenon  Early vs. late- harder with age Spotlight- spatial locations enhanced; superimposed objects; obstacles- Hard with age as well; directed attention Visual search task - A methodology used to study selective attention in the lab. Participants are asked to look for a certain “target” defined by its features o Types of Disjunctive- the target is different from distractors in only one feature Conjunctive- the target varies by 2 or more features from the distractors - This one is harder for older people Older adults show less selective processing of target stimuli than do younger adults And they show greater susceptibility to non-target interference than do younger adults o Capacity- only so much you can hold (unfamiliar info) Pool of attentional resources- available to support cognitive processes Effortful processes- requires attention and effort Automatic processes- do not require attention and are not influenced by practice or experience but some of these can become automatic Divided attention such as driving declines with age Kahneman- Available pool of resources- Some take effort- trying very hard to master something- Automatic just happenso Hold up well across lifespan - Effortful processes may show age-related declines- Performance trade-offs between focus vs. divided attention conditions- Simple vs. complex taskso Vigilance- over time Readiness for detecting a stimulus change Example: air traffic controller Sustained attention tasks- Maintain attention to sensory events for a prolonged amount of time Vigilance performance  how they perform Vigilance decrement  how they decline over time Age differences in vigilance performance  No differences in vigilance decrement Older adults less accurate and slower Changes due to- Response criterion - Perceptual sensitivity - Memory as a multidimensional constructo It is not viewed as a single entityo Sensitivity due to changes in memory abilityo Individual differences in memory abilities to older adults- wide differenceso Memory is not an on/off switch; works better on some days than others- Different forms of memory (working memory, semantic, episodic and procedural memory)o Working memory- o Semantic memory- mental dictionary; facts we have known forever; holds up well with age Holds information about the meaning of wordso Episodic memory- storing and retaining personally experienced events Katrina  personal- big decline with age; experience to events; episodes in our liveso Procedural memory- holds information about how to do things Can’t access it verbally; can’t explain it Piano, baseball, etc. - Recall versus recognition tests of memory- Normal memory agingo Doesn’t mean anything but happens more frequently when you ageo Examples are Forgetting where you put your keys Misplacing glasses- Pathological memory agingo Desired response does not come back; behaviors may reflect underlying brain pathology AAMI  age-associated memory impairment - Structural, functional, and contextual views of memoryo Structural- early information processing models focused on “stores”; these stores presumably contain memory traces that vary in content Research has focused on- Capacity of each store- Rate of forgetting - Codes formed within each store- Control and rehearsal processes- These models are attractive because they lead to a clearly definedprogram of research  Sensory memory- Short term memory- less than 30 seconds; can hold it there by repeating  Long term memory-- Remote memories- DECLINES Limitations include how you can’t explain things related to the quality of encoding and you can’t explain the context-dependency of memory Brain is not like a file cabinet; stories can be reconstructed If short term is just passively holding info, older people do just as well When it becomes more complicated that’s when you see the problem  Iconic  visual  less than one second Echoic  auditory  4-6 seconds o Functional-  Assume that memory processes are jointly determined by mental operations and environmental cues Encoding processes: interpretations of stimulus patterns Retrieval processes: reinstatement of the initial encoding operations  Recognition, cued recall, free recall (struggle/huge differences with older and younger people) Limitations include circular reasoning o Contextual- assumes that the characteristics of people, task demands, and the test materials all interact with each other to influence memory performance Environmental support hypothesis- assumes an age-related reduction in processing resources Older people will have trouble with self-initiated processing operations like encoding and retrieval- “ACTIVE” multisite memory study- Memory training, memory improvement techniqueso Mnemonics are strategies to help us remember Verbal mnemonics- possibly mediate associations between words and ideas Visually-based mnemonics- possibly mediate associations between wordsand ideas Classic mnemonic techniques-- Method of loci-- Pegword method-  Limitations on use with older adults- must address issues such as individual differences, techniques specifically for older adults, long-term effectiveness—they don’t like to do themTopic: Language, Problem Solving, & IntelligenceChapter 7- Preserved and impaired language skillso Older adults have been shown to have more problems with the mental components of intelligence Deteriorate across the lifespan Lexical skills show declines- Naming skills- Definitional skills Discourse production shows declines telling a story  Comprehension of spoken language slows Drawing inferences in written discourse Verbal fluency Verbal analogies o Ones that DO NOT DECLINE with age: Verbal abilities- Vocab tests Organization of semantic memory- Word association 