Problemset
Title
Essay Questions
Introductory
Text
Question 1
Describe an aspect of memory that appears to remain relatively stable with age, one that
shows some deficit, and one that improves.
Type:
Hint:
Essay
Feedback: There are aspects to choose from for each of these conditions. Sensory and
procedural memories are relatively stable; working memory and retrieval from
episodic memory show deficits; semantic memory seems to improve.
Descriptions of these memories are in the chapter.
Question 2
What factors are responsible for age differences in working memory?
Hint:
Type:
Essay
Question 3
Feedback: pp. 135-136 The factors to talk about are the decline in available resources for
processing and storing information and the slowdown in processing speed.
Does retrieval from long-term memory decline with age? Why or why not?
Hint:
Type:
Essay
Feedback: pp. 136-140 Retrieval from long-term memory takes longer as we grow older.
This is particularly true for episodic memories. The why seems to be due to the
following factors: The greater amount of information stored Less mental
stimulation Lower blood flow in the brain (physical activity improves retrieval)
Question 4
What is prospective memory and does it decline with age?
Hint:
What are you doing tomorrow?
Type:
Feedback: pp. 137-138 Whether prospective memory is better or worse for older adults
Essay
Question 5
depends to a large extent upon how it is tested. When do older adults do
better? Worse?
Type:
Why does grandpa remember WWII so well but has trouble remembering what we did last
weekend?
Hint:
Does he really?
Essay
Feedback: Box 7-2 This may not be a genuine differences and the comparison is hard to
make for a number of reasons which you will want to describe. The best
measures of this have found a reminiscence bump, which you should also
describe, that is attributed not to age but to good memory for first time events.
Question 6
What is metamemory and how might it be influenced by negative stereotypes?
Hint:
Type:
Essay
Question 7
Type:
Essay
Feedback: pp. 140-143 Older adults often believe their memories are bad (metamemory)
when they are quite good. They seem to expect to do poorly because they
believe the negative stereotypes about older adults' memories.
Your favorite aunt has asked for your advice. She is very concerned about her memory and
thinks she may be developing Alzheimer's. She forgot where her car was parked the other
day and forgot a doctor's appointment the week before. Reassure her by telling her what
she can expect in terms of normal changes in memory with age.
Hint:
Feedback: Most of the chapter has information that you can use in answering this
question but the most important parts are to tell her about the changes in
working memory, episodic memory, and semantic memory. She can take
information a piece at a time for working memory, not expect to retrieve
information very rapidly from episodic memory, and her semantic memory is
probably better than your own.
Question 8
Compare and contrast older adults' retrieval from episodic and semantic memories.
Hint:
One is better and one is worse.
Type:
Feedback: pp. 136-140 A good way to answer this question is to talk about the study with
Essay
results presented in Table 7-1.
Question 9
Can older adults improve their memories?
Hint:
Yes but how.
Type:
Feedback: pp. 144-145 Several factors are important for older adults who wish to improve
Essay
their memories. For it to work well their anxieties about memory loss need to
be dealt with honestly and they must be allowed to choose a technique that
they wish to use. Simply doing one or the other of these (reducing anxiety OR
providing a technique) is not a beneficial.