Do you find that you need to rely
on more and more sticky notes?
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Having problems remembering your
appointments?
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Are you
finding
that your
notes
just
aren’t
enough?
3
Then maybe you should give us a visit!
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We are The Memory and
Cognitive Aging Laboratory
Headed by Dr. Moshe Naveh-Benjamin
Department of Psychological Sciences
University of Missouri
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What We Do

1.
2.
3.
We conduct basic and intervention research on
the learning and memory changes that occur
with normal aging. The major goals are:
To determine what causes age-related learning
and memory problems
To investigate strategies that healthy adults
develop for improving their learning and
memory performance
To examine the influence of various individual
differences (like level of education, etc.) on
cognitive performance in normal aging.
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Facts about Aging and Cognition
1.
2.
3.
Serious memory loss is not an inevitable
result of aging
There are some age-related memory
changes, many of which can be attenuated
by appropriate strategies and
environmental support (cues, etc.)
Certain types of memories do not show any
decline with old age (for example, general
knowledge and vocabulary)
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Problem solving and creativity
can be held well into old age



Benjamin Franklin invented bifocal lenses
when he was 78
Freud wrote his last book at the age of 83
Claude Monet began his Water Lilies series
at the age of 73
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More about our research
 Names/faces
 Ever
recognize someone’s face
but have no idea what that
person’s name is? One of our
studies examines people’s
memories for names and faces.
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Example:
Meet Joe
Smith
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Meet Steve
Johnson
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???
Joe Smith
or Steve
Johnson?
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Divided Attention
 What
happens when a person
tries to do two things at once (like
driving a car while talking on a
cell phone)?
 We have studies with participants
performing dual tasks (like
learning words while responding
to tones). This way we can see
to what degree doing two things
at once is more difficult for older
than younger adults.
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One possible effect of
performing dual tasks?
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What it’s really like
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About participating



First of all, any information that we
receive from you will be kept confidential
(including your name). We will not reveal
any of your results unless you want us to
give them to you.
If you come in to participate and decide
that you do not like it, you can walk out at
any time.
All volunteers are compensated for their
participation, regardless of whether or not
the study was completed.
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Our tasks commonly involve
listening to or seeing different
information as it appears on a
computer screen and then
later being asked about that
information
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An example
 You
are about to see a list
of name/face pairs. Try to
remember the individual
names and faces, but also
try to learn which names
and faces go together
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Ready to meet
some of our lab
members?
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Meet
Susan
Old
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Meet
Tyler
Fisher
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Meet
Jen
Harvel
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Meet
Beth
Weinhold
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Now for the next phase!
Tell me who you
recognize…
(say yes or no)
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 ANSWER:
NO
Although this is Angela
Whitehead, another member
of our lab, her picture was
not previously shown
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 ANSWER:
YES!!!!
This is Beth Weinhold.
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Now for a different
type of question!
Tell me which of the
following names and faces
were paired before
(say yes or no)
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Susan
Old?
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 ANSWER:
NO
This is Susan Old
This is Jen Harvel
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Tyler
Fisher?
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 ANSWER:
YES!!!
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What now?
1.
2.
Show us your interest!
•
If you’d like to participate, please fill
out a questionnaire today – THIS
WILL NOT OBLIGATE YOU TO
ANYTHING
We’ll look for a match
•
Not everyone can participate in each
study. Certain projects require a
specific range for age and years of
education
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Top 8 reasons to
participate in our
memory studies
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NUMBER 8
Gain
satisfaction in
knowing that you
are helping in
scientific research!
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NUMBER 7
Increase
your
awareness of your
own memory and
cognitive abilities.
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NUMBER 6
Learn
techniques
to improve your
memory.
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NUMBER 5
 Receive
a free subscription
to the official newsletter of
the Memory and Cognitive
Aging Laboratory,
“The Memory Tribune”
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NUMBER 4

You’ll get to know some of the nicest
people you’ll ever meet (us, of course)
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NUMBER 3
Free
parking
on campus
for an
entire day!
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NUMBER 2

While sifting
through
magazines in the
waiting room, you
may stumble
across some
delicious, new
recipes
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NUMBER 1
Free
cookies and
coffee (with
sugar-free
substitute)
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In closing…
 Thank
you for this opportunity to
tell you about our research!
 We
appreciate your support and
time, and hope to see you soon!!!
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RECAP



WE NEED YOUR HELP!!!
If you think you would be interested in
volunteering, please fill out a
questionnaire or take some information!
You can contact the Memory and Cognitive
Aging Laboratory at 882-8123
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