He found that words presented early in the list or at the end of the list were more often recalled and the words presented in the middle were more often forgotten. This suggests that words at the start of the list were put in to the long term memory (LTM), primary effect, as the person had time to rehearse the words, and words at the end of the list were put in to the short term memory (STM), recency effect, words in the middle of the list were there for too long to be retained in the STM but not long enough to be retained in the LTM. Murdock argues that participants remember primary and recency information from two separate stores (LTM and STM) therefore supporting the MSM. Studies in to Korsakov’s syndrome also support the MSM as sufferers have very limited STM, but very good LTM, suggesting that they are separate stores of information. Many of the studies that support the MSM use laboratory experiments which are known for their lack of ecological validity.
Bifocals, Trifocals and Occupational Multifocal Lenses As we age, many of us notice difficulty reading small items within a meter (or few feet) of our eyes. This issue can become more pronounced after the age of 40, when the lenses of the eyes become progressively less flexible and have trouble to focus on objects at different distances. Some people who are just noticing difficulty viewing near objects can continue without bifocal glasses for several years. It may, however, take a few seconds to adjust one's focus when looking at a faraway object and then at something close. For people with just occasional difficulty seeing close up.
There are three categories for lifespan development; physical, cognitive, and social. The physical category deals physical changes that people experience; weight gain or loss, growing taller or shrinking in height, acne, gray hair and liver spots are just some of the physical changes people go through within their lifetime. The cognitive category area is memory, problem-solving and thinking. Usually, as people age, their memory begins to fade, and they find that they forget things more easily, or it seems harder to remember simple things like where they set their keys or the name of someone they know. The social area focuses on the way people are in social situations.
This information once in the short term memory will remain here for a few seconds unless it is rehearsed or displaced as new memories get received. If information in the short term memory is actively processed, through rehearsal, then it may be transferred to the long term memory, where it will remain for a lifetime unless interfered with or lost through decay. Evidence, such as Rajan Mahadevan, suggests that the long term memory and the short term memory operate differently. In this study it is said that Rajan could remember 31,811 digits of PI, but with simple tasks like going shopping he would still have to write a grocery list like anybody else would. The multi store memory concluded that the short term memory and long term memory operate differently in terms of; capacity, duration and encoding.
The physical changes middle-aged people go through vary from person to person depending on previous life experiences. Murrary, Zentner, & Yakimo, (2009) states that if the person has always been active, he or she will continue with little slowdown. People from lower socioeconomic groups often show signs of aging earlier than people from more affluent socioeconomic groups because of their years of hard physical labor, poorer nutritional status, limited access to health care, and lack of money for aids to cover the signs of aging. (p.569) The physical changes seen in middle adulthood are gray, thinning hair, compression of the spinal cord, presbyopia and gradual decrease in hearing, decreased efficiency of heart and elasticity of blood vessels, and reduced breathing capacity. Holahan (2004) also adds that “decades of exposure and use take their toll on the body as wrinkles develop, organs no longer function as efficiently as they once did, and lung and heart capacities decrease.
Some may |There is an increased in crystallized intelligence |During middle adulthood individuals will become more aware of| | |experience hair loss or balding (Berger, 2011). |(practical knowledge).|Some individuals may experience |his or her own mortality, which may also contribute to issues| | |During middle adulthood, men experience decrease in |a midlife crisis which may lead to a struggle with |of midlife crisis (Berger, 2011). | | |sexual function, possible erectile dysfunction, and |self-identity and self-esteem much like that of |
They gave participants a list of twenty words to learn, and discovered that they tended to remember the first few and the last few, but not the words in the middle. This is because of the primacy effect, where information has been rehearsed and transferred into the Long Term Memory, and the recency effect, where
Aging and Memory * Cross sectional studies = comparing people of diff ages with one another. * These studies reveal that intelligence declined after early adulthood * Logitudinal studies = retesting the same people over a period of time * Fluid intelligence is the ability to reason speedily and abstractly * Crystallized intelligence = ones accumulated knowledge as reflected in vocabulary and analogies tests C. Social Development 1. Adulthood’s Ages and Stages * Midlife transition = takes place in forties = involves struggle, regreat, felling struck down. Triggered by illness, divorce, or by job loss. * Romantic attraction is often influenced by chance encounters.
In one such study flashbulb memories were found to have declined over an 11 to 26 month interval. To add these memories were also shown to decline within 1 hour when performed in a laboratory setting. This study also found that there was an even
These activities can often translate from children up through elderly adults. Studies indicate that the typical neural degeneration that occurs in old age can be reversed (Dunn, 2013). Ultimately, memory improves with exercise and proper care of the brain. Exercises should be tailored for each specific age group. Puzzles that challenge the person’s thought processes and encourage them to think “outside of the box” are certainly beneficial to improved memory and cognition (“Lecture 8”, n.d.).