Chapter 6

metamemory

- a type of self evaluation that involves knowledge about how memory works ad what we believe to be true about it

sensory memory

- is a brief and almost identical representation of the stimuli that exists in the observable environment - where new incoming information is first registered -unless you pay attention to sensory information, the representation will be lost quickly -age differences are not found in sensory memory

information-processing model

-computer metaphor to explain how people process stimuli -as with a computer, information enters the system and is transformed, coded, and stored in various ways. Information enters storage temporarily ( computers buffer) until it becomes stored more permanently, as on a computer storage. -the information processing model is based on three life long-held assumptions (Neisser) 1.) people are active participants in the process 2.) both quantitative and qualitative 3.) information is processed through a series of processes

cognitive reserve

-factors that help preserve memory performance -exercise:fitness training improves cognitive performance in older adults., increases neural plasticity -multilingualism and cognitive functioning: the number of languages a person speaks positively influences the cognitive state of older adults. -Semantic memory in service of episodic memory: older adults perform better when they can use previously learned semantic information to support episodic knowledge. negative stereotypes & memory performance: adults may not perform at optimal level because they are threatened by the popular belief that aging hampers their memory ability

retrieval

-getting info back out of memory is termed -older adults do more poorly than younger adults at recalling information -older adults tend to spontaneously use fewer retrieval strategies -memory declines with age because of retrieval issues

time based task

-involves performing an action after a fixed amount of time such as remembering an apportionment at 1 pm, -researchers found time based tasks showed more age differences as long as people used self-generated strategies to remember as these tend to decline with age.

autobiographical memory

-involves remembering information from our own life -primarily a form of episodic memory/ although it can also involve semantic memory -episodic: recollection of temporal and spatial events from ones past (birthday parties, vacations) -semantic: knowledge and facts of one's past ( personal characteristics, knowledge that an event occurred -the number of autobiographical memories increases fastest during young adulthood.

prospective memory

-involves remembering to remember something in the future such as an action or event. -example: remembering to pick up one's children after school and remembering you have dinner date next friday.

strategy

-is anything people do to make a task easier and increase the efficiency of encoding or retrieval

working memory

-is the active processes and structures involved in holding information in mind and simultaneously using that information sometimes in conjunction with incoming information, to solve a problem, make a decision, or learn new information. -smaller capacity with incoming information opposed to sensory memory -significant age related decline in working memory -some evidence suggests age differences in working memory are not universal (example: age-related decline in partial working memory tends to be greater than that verbal working memory

false memory

-is when one remembers items or events that did not occur -older adults more susceptible to these events because they have trouble linking content information to its context

Attentional Resources

-issue with how well adults can perform more than one task at a time. -divided attention -age differences observed are due to older adults difficulties with the individual tasks and not to spreading their attention across them per se. -its not that they can't multitask, but perform each task a bit slower than younger adults

memory self-efficacy

-it is the belief one will be able to perform a specific task. -older adults with low memory self-efficacy perform worse on memory tasks -older adults with low memory self-efficacy compensate for poor memory performance by using people for assistance and compensatory strategies to aid in their memory performances.

neuroscience evidence

-neuroscience presents evidence suggesting age differences in encoding and retrieval. -during encoding, older adults prefrontal cortex shows over-activity indicating the usual pattern of compensatory processes with age. -in terms of retrieval age related differences are shown in how the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus work together. in younger adults, activity in these areas depends on the extent the retrieval task requires relations to be made between the information being remembered, wheres activity in these regions in older adults stayed equivalent irrespective of relational processing.

inhibitory loss

-older adults have reduced processing resources because they have difficulty inhibiting the processing of irrelevant information. -evidence shows that older adults have more task-irrelevant thoughts during processing and have trouble keeping them out of their minds in respect to everyday problem solving -emotionally supportive messages reduce distracting thoughts and improve performance on everyday tasks -when information is initially distracting but later became relevant, older adults performed better than younger adults.

automatic processing

-places minimal demands on the attentional capacity and gets information into the system largely without us being aware of it. -some require no attentional capacity and do not benefit from practice -others are learned from experience and practice ( experienced drivers stopping at a stop sign) -do not demonstrate significant age differences

source memory

-refers to the ability to remember the source of a familiar event as well as the ability to determine if an event was imagined or actually experienced -example: discriminating whether they actually remembered to take their medication or only thought to do it. -older adults are less accurate at a number of source-memory tasks, younger adults are better than older adults at connecting the item to be remembered with the context in which it was learned. -neuroimaging indicates older adults show older-activation of areas in the prefrontal cortex

memory monitoring

-refers to the awareness of what we are doing with our memory right now (making a note in your smartphone ) -does not appear to decline with age -important in understanding how people formulate predictions of how well they are likely to perform

flashbulb memories

-researchers label memories for personally traumatic or unexpected events

memory drugs

-target neurotransmitters ( dopamine) -not a lot of info about treatment

mis conception about divided attention

although it is widely believed that older adults have more trouble than younger adults at dividing attention it turns out the age difference observed are due to older adults difficulties with the individual tasks and not to spreading they attention across them per se.

event-based tasks

an action that is to be performed when a certain external event happens ( giving a certain person a message when they provide a secret word)

external aids

are memory aids that rely on environmental resources -calendars

internal aids

are memory aids that rely on mental processes such as imagery

neuroimaging studies indicates age-related slowing depends on what adults are being asked to do

choosing which response to make

divided attention

concerns how well people perform multiple tasks simultaneously ex: driving a car you pay attention to other cars, the gauges in your car, and pedestrians

semantic memory

concerns learning and remembering the meaning of words and concepts not tied to specific occurrences of events in time. examples: knowing definitions of words to complete crosswords puzzles.

speed of processing

how quickly and efficiently the early steps in information processing are completed

implicit memory

involves retrieval of information without conscious or intentional recollection example: getting into a routine brushing teeth

recognition

involves selecting previously learned information from amount several items.

storage

involves the manner in which information is represented and kept in memory

explicit memory

is intentional and conscious remembering of information learned and remembered as a specific point in time.

episodic memory

is the general class of memory having to do with the conscious recollection of information from a specific event or point in time. -declines with age

rehearsal

is the process that information is held in working memory, either by repeating items over and over or by making meaningful connections between the information in working memory and information already known.

recall

people are asked to remember information without hints or cues

long term memory

refers to the ability to remember rather extensive amounts of information from a few seconds to a few hours to decades

processing resources

refers to the amount of attention one has to apply to a particular situation

effortful processing

requires all of the available attentional capacity example: learning words on a list -age difference tend to emerge

encoding

the process of getting info into the memory system

parieto-frontal integration

undergo significant change with age--> age differences emerge in various aspects of attention

temporal global amnesia

when you experience a complete loss of memory and are disoriented in time a

age related decline in working memory

working memory is key to understanding age differences in memory. the loss of some of the ability to hold items in working memory may limit older adults overall cognition