Cognitive Decay

483 Words1 Page
bulb-icon

Recommended: Cognitive effects of aging

In the first place, to understand brain training one must understand how it pertains to enhancing and maintaining cognitive functions therefore, a close observation of cognition will provide a better understanding of CT. Cognition involves the accumulation of information and turning that information into knowledge. The complex process of cognition includes different cognitive processes, such as attention, decision making, learning, language, memory, reasoning, etc. Much attention is geared towards memory, more pacifically WM because of its connection to “intelligence, information processing, executive function, comprehension, problem solving, and learning in people ranging from infancy to old age” (Cowan, 2014, p.197).
Additionally, WM is prone to limitations which contributes to limiting factors of thoughts, intelligence, problem solving and other cognitive development factors (Oberauer, Farrell, Jarrold, & Lewandowsky, 2016). Therefore, finding ways to strengthen and prolong the abilities of WM, but also other cognitive functions can influence an individual’s intelligence, and …show more content…

Another way of observing the decay concept is to think of it as “use it or lose it”. As time continues and individuals do not use a cognitive function or they simply start to forget memories because these functions decay over time are examples of “use it or lose it.” The concept of decaying of cognitive functions has been a part of the cognitive revolution very early in studying cognitive functioning (Altmann, & Gray, 2002). In 1950’s, two experiments tested the limitations of WM which is known as the Brown-Peterson Task (BPT) which examine the hypothesis that memory trace decay is a cause of forgetting. To date, researchers use BPT to observe WM skills (Geurten, Vincent, Van der Linden, Coyette, & Meulemans,

Show More
Related

  • Analysis Of Can You Build A Better Brain Begley

    77 Words  | 1 Pages

    In “Can You Build a Better Brain”, the author, Sharon Begley discusses how the cognition processes better. He starts by presenting some experiments that prove nutrition did not support the brain smarter. According to the article, he believes that the “cognitive capacity” can be amended by concentration in people’s behavior. He further believes that people’s intelligence do not depend on own skills; however, as long as people peceive new things, their synapses and brain systems will

    Read More

  • Retrieval Failure in the Long-Term Memory

    827 Words  | 2 Pages

    This investigation looks at retrieval failure in the long-term memory, particularly context-dependant forgetting. The theory behind retrieval failure is that available information stored in the long-term memory cannot be accessed because the retrieval cues are defective. Cue-dependant forgetting theory focuses on the assumption that the context in which we learn something is significant when we come to recall the information. Recall is better if it takes place in the same context as the learning. Research conducted on retrieval failure includes Tulving and Pearlstone (1966) who studied intrinsic cues by asking subjects to learn a list of words from different categories.

    Read More

  • Opening Skinner's Box Analysis

    1126 Words  | 3 Pages

    Discounting old and useless information help the students in daily basis wherein it is difficult for a students to remember everything happens in a day like where it parked the car, it brings in the mind all the car parks that the students seen. Slater states that, “Normal human brain built within it mechanism that allows for forgetting" (219). Thus, human brain has the capacity to delete memory that is less relevant or inaccessible especially that caused them trauma like terrible events, plane crashes, or personal attacks that strongly needed to forget. However lost memories can be revived by recalling memories because brain has the ability to construct past experiences like to recall names and faces, skills like riding a bike or smoking cigarette. However, remembering memories matters at age, a young children for example has no idea how their memory works and that they will not remember everything they are told, but for about seven to eight years of age children come to have an understanding of memory. As children grow older they learn to recall their memories which starts to develop and improve for better understanding. She notes that, “Memory are the footprints we live in our lives; without them we look back and see just a blank stretch of snow, or someone else's signature entirely"(Slater181). Therefore, recalling pasts creates a huge impact for it is a part of a students memories that will

    Read More

  • The Role of Genetics In Alzheimer’s Disease

    3344 Words  | 7 Pages

    Memory plays a significant role in the everyday lives of people of all ages. It allows them to recall information and remember skills that were learned in the past. Memory also organizes past information to help people make current and future decisions. However, imagine forgetting the names of close family members or not having the ability to find your keys every time you want to leave the house. These are some of the struggles that people with Alzheimer’s disease face daily. Alzheimer’s disease was first identified by German neurologist Alois Alzheimer in 1906, and was discovered to have an overpowering effect on explicit memory loss (Gruetzner, 1988). There are two types of Alzheimer’s disease – early onset and late onset. Early onset occurs in patients who are diagnosed before the age of 65 whereas late onset occurs in patients who are diagnosed after the age of 65. In the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease, short-term memory is often lost. As Alzheimer’s disease progresses, problems with long-term memory begin to develop, in addition to short-term memory impairments. Although a lot is known about the symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease, the cause has not been conclusively identified. However, as research continues, new theories about the cause of Alzheimer’s disease are being proposed. This has led to a controversy over whether Alzheimer’s disease is caused by genetics or environmental influences (Gruetzner, 1988).

    Read More

  • A Broad Analysis of Memory

    1032 Words  | 3 Pages

    Healy and Mc Namara (1996) explain how the Atkinson & Shiffrin model involves the transfer of information from short-term memory to Long-term memory...

    Read More

  • Comparing Two Approaches to Cognitive Psychology

    1413 Words  | 3 Pages

    Historically, cognitive psychology was unified by an approach based on an resemblance between the mind and a computer, (Eysenck and Keane, 2010). Cognitive neuroscientists argue convincingly that we need to study the brain while people engage in cognitive tasks. Clearly, the internal processes involved in human cognition occur in the brain, and several sophisticated ways of studying the brain in action, including various imaging techniques, now exist, (Sternberg and Wagner, 1999, page 34).Neuroscience studies how the activity of the brain is correlated with cognitive operations, (Eysenck and Keane, 2010). On the other hand, cognitive neuropsychologists believe that we can draw general conclusions about the way in which the intact mind and brain work from mainly studying the behaviour of neurological patients rather than their physiology, (McCarthy and Warrington, 1990).

    Read More

  • Selected Topics Paper: Aging

    917 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...tions in the number of synaptic spines and functional synapses contribute to annual reductions of as much as 0.5% to 1.0% in cortical thickness (the cortex is the outermost layer of the brain) and sub-cortical volume in some regions of the brain (Fjell & Walhovd, 2010). Working memory declines in both speed and function, so they forget names, locations of important objects, appointments and medication schedules (Smart, 2012). Both physical fitness and exercise in the form of stimulation among multiple channels aid in slowing cognitive decline and could potentially provide success to individuals (Whitbourne & Whitbourne, 2010). However, Horn and Cattell found that memory, crystallized intelligence, and fluid knowledge all decreased after age of 70 despite level of education, physical activeness and the number and variety of stimulating experiences (Smart, 2012).

    Read More

  • How Smart Can We Get?

    916 Words  | 2 Pages

    How Smart Can We Get? discussed how the human brain’s physical structure can change due to the demands that are placed on it, how Savants are able to do amazing things with little time or effort, and how our emotion can get the best of us when we need a clear head the most. It was undoubtedly fascinating to watch. I can only hope the information I gained from this exercise has made my brain a little smarter.

    Read More

  • Dementia Essay

    1023 Words  | 3 Pages

    Understanding how the brain processes and stores memories has important implication. Dementia is a liberal term that refers to the decline and impairment of speech communication, abstract thought, memory and other cognitive functions. This cognitive disruption occurs to such an extent that they interfere with daily activities Dementia is not a disease itself. Instead, it depicts it describes a group of symptoms that frequently accompanies a disease or a condition. Although, it might initially seem disturbing to consider that half of the adult population will experience the symptoms of a mental disorder. Psychological symptoms without becoming completely debilitated and needing professional intervention most people clearly seem to manage

    Read More

  • An Evaluation of Case Studies and Their Contribution to Cognitive Neuropsychology as a Discipline

    2094 Words  | 5 Pages

    Cognitive psychology is the study of the brains internal processes that guide behaviour; to study cognition, psychologists examine case studies of patients with damaged brains that can infer areas, and functions involved in particular processes. Patient studies have provided insights into the processes that take place within our minds, and have enabled psychologists to create models, which can be tested and fractionated. Cognitive neuropsychology has developed from cognitive psychology to become a discipline in its own right; it investigates the function and structures of the brain involved in cognitive processes and should not be confused with cognitive neuroscience, which is primarily concerned with neural structures and their functions.

    Read More

  • Patterns And Patterns Essay

    1227 Words  | 3 Pages

    Fundamentally, development of the brain is an immense determinant of someone’s ability to learn. Therefore, the success of most learning patterns will be premised upon this notion of brain development. Other aspects of learning involves practice, teaching methods applied, the complexity of the concepts being taught and so forth. Nonetheless, the effectiveness of these other methods is dependent upon the brain of the learner. People have different levels of brain development. This manifests itself in the different abilities of learning. Some are poor learners whereas others learn pretty fast (Iba & Miyake, 2010).

    Read More

  • Cognitive Dissonance and Mental Dexterity Enhancement

    882 Words  | 2 Pages

    The increase of mental dexterity as Professor Dalton said, “allows people to hold a greater understanding of these ideas,” because they “lead to a deeper understanding”

    Read More

  • Brain-Based Learning and Teaching

    1735 Words  | 4 Pages

    Throughout the course of history many people in time had no idea that many creatures of life had brains. With remarkable breakthroughs in technology and through human ability to take pictures of the human brain through head scans, scientists have discovered and mapped out the human brain. As neuroscientists understand how the brain works, discovery of brain-based learning has been a growing field ever since. Education is extremely important for human beings because the more educated we are as a society the better we contribute to society. Knowledge is extremely powerful and as a future educator, understanding how the brain works and developing lesson plans surrounding the inner workings of the brain will allow learning to manifest in the classroom.

    Read More

  • Reflection On Cognition And Aging

    1103 Words  | 3 Pages

    Historically, memory has been a recurring topic in cognition research. Through the years, many scientific findings have helped us to understand how memory works. Since, older adults are the subgroup most affected by frequent memory deficiencies, they would be highly benefited with the advance of the cognitive

    Read More

  • My Personal Learning Style

    771 Words  | 2 Pages

    Four decades of psychological research have taught us there is no one right way to learn. Our minds are as unique as our fingerprints. Our ability to learn is not necessarily related to high or low intelligence quotients, but rather a convergence of four important aspects of our perso...

    Read More

More about Cognitive Decay

Open Document