Which type of cognitive change in later adulthood do you think has the most significant impact on an individual’s mental health? Why?
Basic cognitive functions:
Information processing,
attention, and memory
“By the time you’re eighty years old you’ve learned everything. You only have to remember it.”
George Burns
1896-1996
AGEFEED
#braingames
1. Train your brain. Look for new challenges every day, from crossword puzzles to
videogames to taking different routes to get to the same place.
2. Limit distractions. Easier said than done in this age of multitasking, but focusing on
one task at a time boosts your memory (hint: stay off social media during class!)
3. Keep organized. Make lists, reduce clutter, and keep common items in the same
location.
4. Practice mindfulness. Focus on your current inner state while you remain aware of
your surroundings.
5. Stay healthy. Good physical health promotes mental agility.
6. Use mnemonics. Memory tricks can help you remember everything from gardening
advice (“leaflets of three, let it be” to avoid poison ivy) to people’s names (“Joy has a
baby boy”).
7. Stay hydrated. Drinking plenty of water can help you avoid sluggishness and memory
loss.
8. Use visualization. Ever go into another room to get something and forget what it
was? Imagine that you’re picking the item up as soon as you decide to go get it.
9. Write things down. Like, with a pen or pencil. Handwriting outweighs typing on a
computer or phone, in part because your brain is better activated when creating each
letter’s shape rather than hitting keys that all have the same shape and feel.
10. Make new brainpaths. Use your fingertips to trace the outlines of objects. Each
repetition will help you build new synapses.
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PROCESSING
SPEED AND
ATTENTION
Two
approaches to
understanding
aging and
attention
General slowing hypothesis:
Fewer resources means
slower and less efficient
processing
Inhibitory deficit: Older adults
can’t tune out irrelevant
information
500
1000
1500 2000 2500
3000
3500
4000
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
3000
3500
4000
O
ld
er
a
du
lts
R
T
(m
s)
Younger adults RT (ms)
Older adults respond at
slower speeds than
young adults
Brinley plot:
Performance of older adults is plotted against
performance by younger adults, revealing that
as the task becomes more difficult (requires
more time), older adults are
disproportionately slower.
Incongruent
sequence
Congruent
sequence
green
green
red
green
blue
red
Stroop task of inhibitory
control
(incongruent)
Training in videogames can boost attention under the right circumstances
Scaffolding theory
of memory
According to the scaffolding theory,
older adults can recruit alternate
neural circuits as needed by task
demands as shown by these
potential routes.
Abilities that
decline
Abilities that are
stable
Episodic memory Semantic memory
Source memory
False memory
Retrieval failure
Prospective memory
Flashbulb memory
Implicit memory
Procedural memory
Long-term memory and aging scorecard
The
“reminiscence
bump” in
early
adulthood
Our brains get slower as we age not because of
age-related cognitive decline, but because it
takes longer to process the lifetime of
experiences and knowledge we’ve acquired.
Michael Ramscar (2014)
Factors that can
influence memory in
later life
• Psychosocial factors
• Stress and depression
• Memory “self-efficacy”
• Stereotype threat
• Health-related factors
• Smoking
• Diet
• Aerobic exercise
• Strength training
Properly timed exercise aids memory
Vigorous activity four hours after first learning something boosts recall
Specific ways to improve
memory in later life
• Better encoding
• Practice
• Strategy use
Imagine a place you know well.
Mentally walk through each room,
associating items you want to
remember with that room.
To recall those items, retrace your
steps.
The use of method of loci as a way to improve
long-term memory (also called “Memory Palace”)
https://artofmemory.com/wiki/How_to_Build_a_Memory_Palace
https://artofmemory.com/wiki/How_to_Build_a_Memory_Palace
Younger drivers- highest crash rates
• Drink and drive
• Distracted driving
• Less experience
• Driving cheaper, less safe cars
Older drivers- highest fatality rates
• Mobility limitations
• Vision changes
• Restricted UFOV
• “Fear of driving”
The productivity illusion in distracted driving
(Watson et al., 2016)
Lambert et al., 2016
Across all indicators, including
subjective:
Nissan Rogue highest
Kia Optima lowest
“Confusion Corner” in Manitoba
Limited UFOV
Healthier UFOV
`
NHTSA, 2015:
12,000
accidents
/year due to pedal error.
Another relevant design factor is stepover height,
defined as the difference in height between the
plane of the brake pedal face and the plane of the
accelerator pedal face. Vehicles with little stepover
height may cause the driver to inadvertently depress
both pedals at the same time or be more likely to
confuse the pedal location.
That is, if the force/displacement profiles of the
brake and accelerator pedals are similar, the tactile
feedback to the driver might cause a failure to
properly identify the pedal being applied.
Age-related decline in detection of response error
Hasegawa et al.,2020, PLoSOne
Sample
questions
from the
National
Highway
Traffic Safety
Administra-
tion’s self-test
for older
drivers
Steps Older Drivers can
Take to Improve Their
Driving
• Exercise to increase strength and flexibility
• Avoid drug-drug interactions
• Vision tests
• Drive during daylight and good weather
• Find safest routes (well-lit streets, arrows at
lights, easy parking)
• Plan route before driving
• Leave enough room in front
• Avoid distractions (including food)
• Consider alternatives to driving, including
online shopping
Rotaries or
roundabouts
can help
reduce
accidents
Reduction in collisions
with roundabouts
(percent)
• Reasons:
• Low travel speeds
• No light to beat
• One-way travel
Acuity
Night vision
Headline glare
Anxiety
Confusion
Social attitudes
Availability of other
transportation
Mobility
Strength
Coordination
Pain
Psychological
Biopsychosocial model of driving and aging
- Basic cognitive functions: Information processing, attention, and memory
- Slide Number 2
- PROCESSING SPEED AND ATTENTION
- Two approaches to understanding aging and attention
- Slide Number 5
- Slide Number 6
- Slide Number 12
- Slide Number 17
- Slide Number 18
- Scaffolding theory of memory
- Slide Number 22
- The “reminiscence bump” in early adulthood
- Factors that can influence memory in later life
- Slide Number 28
- Slide Number 29
- Slide Number 30
- Slide Number 33
- Slide Number 34
- Slide Number 35
- Specific ways to improve memory in later life
- Slide Number 37
- Slide Number 38
- Slide Number 41
- Slide Number 42
- Slide Number 43
- Slide Number 44
- Slide Number 46
- Slide Number 48
- Slide Number 49
- Slide Number 50
- Slide Number 52
- Sample questions from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administra-tion’s self-test for older drivers
- Steps Older Drivers can Take to Improve Their Driving
- Rotaries or roundabouts can help reduce accidents
- Slide Number 63
- Reduction in collisions with roundabouts (percent)
- Slide Number 65
Videogames and attention
MEMORY
Do older people just have more to remember?
Driving and Aging
Younger and older drivers
Reaction time and pedal error in older drivers
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