Badham, Stephen P. (2011) Age-related changes in associative memory. PhD thesis, University of Warwick.

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Abstract

Older adults suffer from many cognitive impairments relative to young adults
and one of the most established types of age-related cognitive decline is a reduction
in memory performance. Memory for single units of information (item memory)
have been shown to be less susceptible to cognitive ageing than memory for
associations among units of information (associative memory). An associative deficit
hypothesis has been used to describe these observations as an age-related impairment
in forming links between single units of information. The thesis elucidated specific
differences between item and associative memory and evaluated how such
differences correspond to their differential susceptibility to the effects of cognitive
ageing. This indicated links between the associative deficit hypothesis and other
theories of age-related memory decline, in particular, to the notion of age deficits in
memory resulting from age deficits in self-initiated processing (in the absence of
environmental support).
Experiments 1-3 considered associative memory where the processing of
associations was encouraged by distinctiveness of memory stimuli. Environmental
support provided by distinctiveness was shown to improve associative memory in
older adults. Experiments 4-7 considered how item and associative memory differ in
their support from preexisting knowledge. Experimentally equating preexisting
knowledge for item and associative memory tests eliminated the age-related
associative deficit. Furthermore, it was found that preexisting knowledge could be
used to enhance associative memory performance in older adults by providing
support to encoding and/or retrieval processes. Experiment 8 established that item
and associative memory processes were equally disrupted by a concurrent task,
which indicated that both memory types are similarly affected by levels of available
cognitive resources. In general, age-related associative deficits were considered to
result from differing levels of environmental support for item and associative
memory as opposed to a differential decline of item and associative memory
processes.

Item Type:	Thesis or Dissertation (PhD)
Subjects:	B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Memory -- Age factors
Official Date:	September 2011
Institution:	University of Warwick
Theses Department:	Department of Psychology
Thesis Type:	PhD
Publication Status:	Unpublished
Supervisor(s)/Advisor:	Maylor, Elizabeth A. ; Estes, Zachary, 1973-
Extent:	xiii, 321 leaves : charts
Language:	eng
URI:	http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/id/eprint/50837

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