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CHAPTER 6: ATTENTION AND MEMORY
Chapter Outline
This chapter serves as an introduction to the popular store model of information processing. The chapter
discusses the application of information processing to the cognitive processes of memory and intellectual
functioning. This section is often best covered by class discussion of the issues, such as the data that
could lead to controversy (e.g., not allowing older adults to drive or when to revoke the driver’s licenses
of older adults). Memory is influential in almost every aspect of daily life. Memory can be both an end
(how much do we remember) and a means to an end (the ability to tell people about ourselves).
Differences in active processing mechanisms are discussed, along with how people function in everyday
life despite normative memory losses.
© 2019 Cengage. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or
in part.
1) Automatic processing places minimal demands on attentional capacity and gets information
into the system largely without us being aware of it
(a) Performance on tasks that depend on automatic processes does not demonstrate
significant age differences
2) Effortful processing requires all of the available attentional capacity
(a) When there is effort and deliberate processing involved to remember the information, age
differences emerge
© 2019 Cengage. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or
in part.
C) Long-Term Memory: Involves the ability to remember rather extensive amounts of information
over a few seconds to a few hours to decades
1) A large-capacity store that is not a single unitary construct, but consists of multiple systems
that are functionally different and served by different brain structure
(a) Semantic memory: Concerns learning and remembering the meaning of words and
concepts that are not tied to any specific occurrences of events in time (e.g., knowing the
definitions of words)
(i) Deliberate and effortful system of long-term memory
(b) Episodic memory: The general class of memory having to do with the conscious
recollection of information from a specific event or time (e.g., what you did on spring
break)
(i) Deliberate and effortful system of long-term memory
(c) Age differences in semantic memory
(i) Semantic memory is relatively spared in normal aging
(ii) Changes can happen if it becomes hard to access and retrieve if the knowledge is not
used and if adults are experiencing momentary retrieval failure (tip-of-the-tongue)
(d) Age differences in episodic memory
(i) Older adults perform worse than younger adults on recall tests
▪ Omit more information
▪ Include more intrusions
▪ Repeat more previously recalled items
(ii) Less difference with recognition tests
▪ Older adults are more likely to say they recognize items that were never
presented
▪ Change in brain activity in the prefrontal cortex
(iii) Autobiographical memory is more resistant to declining
D) Age Differences in Encoding versus Retrieval
1) Encoding
(a) A strategy is anything people do to make the task easier and increase the efficiency of
encoding or retrieval
(b) The spontaneous use of strategies during the learning of new information declines with
age
(c) Changes in the left lateral prefrontal cortex underlie the encoding declines
2) Retrieval
(a) Older adults tend to spontaneously use fewer retrieval strategies than younger adults
3) Neuroscience evidence
(a) Pet scans show age differences in how the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus work
together
(b) Age-related compensatory brain activity for retrieval to work around the normal changes
occurring in information processing.
© 2019 Cengage. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or
in part.
A) Prospective Memory
1) Remembering to perform a planned action in the future
2) Differences between event-based and time-based future events
(a) Time-based remembering is more age related
3) Autobiographical memory
(a) Involves remembering information and events from our own life
(b) It is a form of episodic memory
(c) Flashbulb memories are vivid memories of very personal or emotional events, but these
are often inaccurate
4) Events experienced between 10 and 30 years of age are reported more often than those
occurring in middle adulthood
B) Source Memory and Processing of Misinformation
1) Source memory
(a) The ability to remember the source of a familiar event and the ability to determine if an
event was imagined or actually experienced
(b) Older adults are less accurate at many source memory tasks
(c) Older adults show overactivation of the prefrontal cortex when confronted with source
memory tasks
2) False memory
(a) When one remembers items or events that did not occur
(b) Older adults tend to be more susceptible to false memory issues than younger adults
© 2019 Cengage. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or
in part.
C) Factors That Preserve Memory
1) Specific factors, known as cognitive reserve, help preserve memory performance
(a) Exercise
(i) Physical exercise improves cognitive performance
(b) Multilingualism and cognitive functioning
(i) Research suggests that older adults who speak four or more languages had the best
cognitive state
(c) Semantic memory in service of episodic memory
(i) Older adults are better in episodic memory when they can use previously learned
semantic information to support episodic knowledge
(d) Negative stereotypes and memory performance
(i) Older adults do worse on memory tasks if they believe that age hampers memory
ability
D) Training Memory Skills
1) Training people how to remember information better through the use of memory strategies
can be aimed at any adult
(a) Pay attention
(b) Make connections from existing knowledge to new material
(c) Provide the basis for future retrieval cues
(d) Place memory strategies in the context of healthy lifestyles
(i) E-I-E-I-O strategy combines explicit memory and implicit memory with external and
internal memory aids
(ii) Internal memory aids rely on mental processes such as imagery
(iii) External memory aids rely on environmental resources
▪ Smartphone apps aim at relieving the memory burden
▪ Social media link names and faces
2) Five drugs have been approved to help people with memory difficulties
(a) All the drugs work through neurotransmitters
© 2019 Cengage. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or
in part.
A) Aspects of Memory Self-Evaluations
1) Metamemory: Knowledge about how memory works and what we believe is true about it
2) Memory monitoring: Involves knowing what you are doing mentally right now
B) Age Differences in Metamemory and Memory Monitoring
1) Older adults:
(a) Seem to know less about how memory works than younger
(b) View memory as less stable
(c) Expect that memory will deteriorate
(d) Perceive they have less control over memory
2) The role of memory self-efficacy
(a) Memory self-efficacy: The belief that one will be able to perform a specific task
(i) Is an important construct in understanding how people make judgments about
performance before they have experience with a task
(ii) Overall, older adults with lower memory self-efficacy translate to poorer memory
performance
(iii) But these same older adults are more likely to rely on someone else or use strategies
to help themselves remember
3) Age differences in memory monitoring
(a) Memory monitoring: Involves knowing what you are doing mentally right now
(i) Older adults who are better at monitoring are more likely to use effective strategies
(ii) Metamemory and predictions without experience: Estimating your performance
without having a chance to see if what we are up against is hard (e.g., estimating your
performance on the first exam in this class)
4) The ability to monitor one’s memory does not appear to decline with age
© 2019 Cengage. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or
in part.
3) Memory and nutrition
(a) Several components in healthy diets are essential for well-functioning memory
(b) Flavonoids may reverse age-related deficits in spatial memory
(c) Iron has also been associated with better verbal memory
(d) Vitamin B including 6 and 9 (folic acid)
(e) Serious decrements in memory may be caused by poor diet
© 2019 Cengage. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or
in part.
Going Beyond the Book and Lecture Suggestions
1. Discuss different models and theories of attention, and then map each onto the pattern of age
differences reported in the text.
2. Examine vigilance and air traffic controllers. This could provide a discussion lead-in to issues on
burnout and age.
3. Describe various environmental design issues that are responses to data concerning information
processing and sensory changes.
4. Present Hasher and Zacks’s (1988) inhibition hypothesis. Discuss how failure to inhibit could be
responsible for age differences in cognitive performance. Think about everyday examples and
implications.
5. Research has consistently reported that older adults are slower than younger adults. Briefly,
summarize the extensive research of Salthouse on speed. Salthouse and colleagues have developed a
variety of tasks designed to measure speed.
6. Students are often fascinated by flashbulb memories, and it is a topic they can relate to well because
they usually have their own memories of a landmark event. Go into greater depth on the ways that
flashbulb memories can be wrong by using examples from Talarico and Rubin’s research on the
World Trade Center attacks.
7. Define and describe various types of memory loss and how each relates to the aging processing.
8. During lecture, you can present false memory research in the context of elder abuse. Encourage
students to consider the ways in which older adults’ poor ability to ward off misinformation could
result in inaccurate reporting of elder abuse. Do students think false memory issues would result in
overreporting, underreporting, or have no effect on reporting?
9. Much of the research on everyday memory touches on the issue of automatic versus effortful
processing. As a class, discuss the impact of smartphones on memory and possible applications as an
external source for memory improvement for aging adults. Describe this issue and research relating to
age differences.
10. As a class, construct an intervention to bolster memory self-efficacy among older adults. Prompt
students to consider the best format for this intervention (written, video, in-person, some other form?)
and to think about the specific elements that might assist older adults in having a positive view of
their ability to perform a specific task. Ask students to consider where there is a way to make this
intervention generalize beyond one task.
Discussion Questions
1. Given your new understanding of adulthood information-processing skills, do you think that we
should place old-age limits on driving privileges? If so, what criteria might you use to screen drivers?
2. In what ways is memory important for human functioning? In what ways can we function without
various types of memory? As you discuss, be as specific about types of memory as you can.
3. How do we tell the difference between normative and abnormal age-related memory changes?
4. What are some examples of things that we normally forget? What are some examples of things that
would be classified as abnormal if forgotten?
5. What are the stereotypes about memory performance in older adults? What are possible effects of
social expectations on the memory of older adults? What does the research suggest about each of
these areas: myth versus reality?
6. How do older adults perform on everyday memory and list-learning tasks?
7. How could older adults benefit from technology to support memory?
© 2019 Cengage. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or
in part.
8. Many adults intensely fear memory loss as they age and particularly live in fear of developing
Alzheimer’s. Why do you think this fear exists? Is it justified? What would you tell someone to help
allay his or her fear of age-related memory loss?
1. Have students identify various occupations requiring rapid reaction and find out whether they have
age restrictions. Debate the pros and cons of such restrictions based on the compensating role of
experience.
2. Demonstrate various types of attention and reaction time tasks (or psychomotor speed). A simple
attention activity is to ask students questions about the face of a penny or another very common
object all students are likely to come in contact with. Students may also take memory/reaction time
tests on the web: https://www.humanbenchmark.com/tests/memory
3. Think of everyday examples of simple, choice, and complex reaction time tasks. Describe each type
of task and indicate how your example illustrates that type of task. Based on your knowledge of
information processing, do you feel comfortable with older adults performing these activities?
4. Have students design an optimal living environment for older adults. The living environments should
take into account normative sensory, physical, and information-processing changes.
5. To demonstrate attention, have students participate in the Stroop color word task, which can be found
in most cognitive psychology textbooks, or you can find a version available from NOVA
(www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/everest/exposure/stroopintro.html).
6. Ask students to interview their older relatives and/or members of the community about their flashbulb
memories of notable events (e.g., the assassination of JFK). The students can then write a paper or
create a presentation discussing the characteristics they noticed in the flashbulb memories and how
this compares to research on flashbulb memories. The students might incorporate their own flashbulb
memories for an event, such as September 11.
7. Our society places a tremendous amount of emphasis on a “good” memory. Is a similar emphasis
found in other cultures? Investigate the importance of memory cross-culturally.
8. Have students list their major autobiographical memories, and look for organizing themes (e.g., first-
time experiences, traumatic events). Discuss why each event was remembered so vividly and compare
these results with research described in the text.
9. Have students bring home videos that captured past events in their lives. Before watching the videos,
have students write down in detail their memories of an event they have recorded. Screen the video
for verification of their memories. Discuss the challenges with memory that older adults would have
with the same task.
10. Have students draw parallels between text structure as described by prose researchers and outlines
from English composition classes.
11. Create a pamphlet on suggestions for improving memory using the information in the book on text
variables.
12. Have students list episodes of forgetting and whether, when confronted with evidence of poor
memory, they are concerned about it. Have students think about how they would respond to forgetting
the same things if they were 80 years old. Compare these results to similar findings discussed in the
text.
13. Ask students to browse an app store for memory aid apps. Compare the features of the apps and
discuss how the apps could benefit older adults facing loss of memory challenges.
14. Ask students to interview their parents and other middle-aged or older adults about their experiences
of memory issues and their fears about losing their memory as they age. The students can then write a
© 2019 Cengage. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or
in part.
paper about how justified their fears are, and whether the memory loss incidents are normative for
age.
© 2019 Cengage. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or
in part.
Suggested Websites
Have your students read the following articles, and use the questions listed for each article either to
stimulate in-class discussion or on an exam.
Anonymous. (2017). May smartphones help to maintain memory in patients with mild Alzheimer’s
disease? Science News, March 1, 2017.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/03/170301105526.htm
This article discusses the success of using Google calendar to maintain prospective memory in a
patient with mild Alzheimer’s disease.
• What strategy was used to help the patient with memory tasks?
• What other potential benefits could be gained with smartphone technology to help
Alzheimer’s patients with memory?
• How do you use your smartphone/tablet/fitness monitoring device to help you with
memory?
© 2019 Cengage. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or
in part.
Morrow, D., Leirer, V. O., Carver, L. M., Tanke, E. D., & McNally, A. D. (1999). Repetition improves
older and younger adults memory for automated appointment messages. Human Factors, 41, 194–
204. A101942851
http://www.questia.com/googleScholar.qst?docId=5001304618
This article investigates whether repetition and listener age improved memory for automated
appointment messages. The goal of this research is to improve automated appointment messages
by focusing on how they are presented.
• What aspects of memory are involved in remembering appointments?
• What is a situational model? How does a listener create a situational model?
• What role does repetition play in comprehension and memory?
• Describe the measures used to assess cognitive ability and speed of processing.
• What were the main findings of the current research?
Sit, R. A., & Fisk, A. D. (1999). Age-related performance in a multiple-task environment. Human
Factors, 41, 26–34. A55919221
http://www.questia.com/googleScholar.qst;jsessionid=KscQ3xMnWZ8RPmKMQnRCZYsn7nZ1
Sngx7MZwT8pZBQTryCjfQHcY!-1058699480!-950397748?docId=5001307311
Younger and older adults performed multiple tasks (dual-task performance). Deficits in
performance were more pronounced for older adults compared to younger adults. However,
practice closed the gap in performance between younger and older adults. This article can extend
class discussion of how factors influence older adults’ performance on attention tasks.
• What factors influence multiple task performance?
• Can training improve performance on multiple tasks? What types of training have been
investigated?
• Describe the procedure used in this study.
• What were the main findings from this study?
• Did training improve performance on tasks?
• How might you apply these results to tasks in older adults’ everyday life?
Anonymous. (2013, January 28). Sleep deprivation may be behind memory loss in elderly. The
Huffington Post. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/28/sleep-deprivation-memory-
loss_n_2566999.html
This article reports on a study conducted at the University of California at Berkeley investigating
causes of memory loss among older adults. It is a good example of the multifaceted nature of
memory, which depends on contextual factors in addition to brain factors to function properly.
• How was the study at the University of California at Berkeley conducted?
• What did the researchers find?
• Why might sleep deprivation be related to memory loss? Discuss the mechanisms underlying
the issue.
• Based on this study, what should older adults do to improve their memories? Attempt to
brainstorm beyond the ideas presented in the article.
© 2019 Cengage. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or
in part.
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