Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Human memory introduction
Human memory introduction
Human memory introduction
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Human memory introduction
The aging memory: short-term memory and recall performance differences found in age groups.
1. Introduction
The following research proposal aims to continue to further the discussion and study into human memory. However, specifically more into the difference that can be found between age groups in terms of short-term memory and recall performance.
Motivation to undertake in such a study can be said to expand on the existing knowledge as well as to close any gaps due to lack of insight and testing in specific areas – short-term memory and recall performance. Another reason as to why this topic is being researched is to further my own interest within this specialised area of memory as well as cognitive neuroscience in psychology.
Research Question
Are there any significant differences that exist between short-term memory and recall performance in young adulthood and middle adulthood?
Hypothesis
There are significant differences that exist between the two age groups with regards to their short-term memory and recall performances.
2. Literature Review
There has been many research endeavors into the topic of the aging memory specifically short-term memory and recall performance with age. However, there seems to be a lack of research regarding the difference found between young and middle adulthood.
The vast knowledge on memory that has been gathered will be used to help support and gain a better understanding on the findings that would be brought forward at a later stage. However, it is necessary to gain insight into previous literature on human memory as well as the aging memory.
It is important to define the key concept, memory, before further discussion on this topic. Memory, according to Austin et al.(2012, p. 660) ...
... middle of paper ...
...A. & Hartman, M. (2003). Adult age differences in temporal and item memory. Psychology and Aging, 18, (3), 573–586. doi : 10.1037/0882-7974.18.3.573
Fandakova, Y., Sander, M. C., Werkle-Bergner, M. & Shing, Y. L. (2014). Age differences in short-term memory binding are related to working memory performance across the lifespan. Psychology and Aging, 29, (1), 140–149. doi : 10.1037/a0035347
Fine, C. (2008). The Britannica guide to the brain: A guided tour of the brain – Mind, memory and intelligence. London, UK: Robinson.
Kaczmarzyk, M., Francikowski, J., Łozowski, B., Rozpędek, M., Sawczyn, T., & Sułowicz, S.(2013). The bit value of working memory. Psychology & Neuroscience, 6, (3), 345 – 349. doi: 10.3922/j.psns.2013.3.11
Passer, M. W. & Smith, R. E. (2008). Psychology: The science of mind and behaviour. (4th Ed.). New York, NY: McGraw Hill.
Roediger III, H. L., Watson, J. M., McDermott, K. B., & Gallo, D. A. (2001). Factors that determine false recall: A multiple regression analysis. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 8(3), 385-407.
Gross, R (2010). Psychology: The science of mind and behaviour. 6th ed. London: Hodder Education. p188.
In the experimental group the middle four average scores were not significantly different (M = 0.70, SD = 0.04) from the last four average scores (M = 0.50, SD = 0.00), t(4) = 2.06, p < ns . In the control group, the middle four average scores were also not significantly different (M = 0.68, SD = 0.02) from the last four average scores (M = 0.56 , SD = 0.00), t(4) = 1.89, p < ns.The serial position curve of recall of the warned group and the control group showed a similar pattern as to the one found in previous studies on the same topic. Both groups were able to recall about 90% of the words in the beginning of the list and the end of the list (See Figure 1). The warned group had slightly more false memories, but the difference was not at all significant (see Figure 2). The control group recalled more critical and studied words than the warned group (see Table
Atkinson, R.C. & Shiffrin, R.M. (1968). Human memory: A proposed system and its control process.
Winograd, E., & Killinger, W. A. (1983). Relating age at encoding in early childhood to adult recall: Development of flashbulb memories. Journal Of Experimental Psychology: General, 112(3), 413-422. doi:10.1037/0096-3445.112.3.413
Passer, M., Smith, R., Holt, N., Bremner, A., Sutherland, E., & Vliek, M. (2009). Psychology; Science of Mind and Behaviour. (European Edition). New York.
...pporting details. At the conclusion of the article, the authors share their thoughts on how it might be virtually impossible to determine when a memory is true or false. I also like their willingness to continue the investigations despite how difficult it might be to obtain concrete answers.
Smith, E. E. and Kosslyn, S. M. (2009). Cognitive psychology: Mind and brain. New Jersey: Pearson Education
Making and storing memories is a complex process involving many regions of the brain. (3). Most experts agree that we have two stages of memories - short-term memory and long-term memory. Short-term memory is the immediate memory we have when we first hear or perceive someth...
Furthermore this article expands upon this subcategory of memory by describing the two types of tasks involved with it: verbal-production ta...
Saha, G., Halder, S., & DAS, P. (2013). A Comparative study of short term memory and long term memory between athlete and non athlete. Indian Streams Research Journal, 2(12), 1-5.
Knapton, S 2014, ‘Brains of elderly slow because they know so much’ Telegraph Media Group, published in the Journal of Topics in Cognitive Science, viewed on the 22nd of march 2014
According to Sternberg (1999), memory is the extraction of past experiences for information to be used in the present. The retrieval of memory is essential in every aspect of daily life, whether it is for academics, work or social purposes. However, many often take memory for granted and assume that it can be relied on because of how realistic it appears in the mind. This form of memory is also known as flashbulb memory. (Brown and Kulik, 1977). The question of whether our memory is reliably accurate has been shown to have implications in providing precise details of past events. (The British Psychological Association, 2011). In this essay, I would put forth arguments that human memory, in fact, is not completely reliable in providing accurate depictions of our past experiences. Evidence can be seen in the following two studies that support these arguments by examining episodic memory in humans. The first study is by Loftus and Pickrell (1995) who found that memory can be modified by suggestions. The second study is by Naveh-Benjamin and Craik (1995) who found that there is a predisposition for memory to decline with increasing age.
Does ones age and learning style affect ones memory? The experiment conducted was to see if there is a correlation between memory, age, and the learning style of an individual, and how it is all connected. The hypothesis tested was, if a subject memorizes a list of numbers, then it will be easier if they are older and a visual learner.
It’s commonly known that cognitive as well as physiological processes decline with age that result in worse memory performance. Certain models such as node structure theory are used to explain effects like tip-of-the-tongue that occur frequently in older people. I wanted to discuss the role that emotional aspects of memory play in memory performance in older people, specifically with regard to the positivity effect. In particular, there seem to be several views on the role of the positivity effect on memory performance in later life. On one hand some argue that the positivity effect is a result of natural phenomenon that occur as people get older, specifically the need to achieve emotional satisfaction.