113 research outputs found
ESRC Evaluating Multisensory Stimuli as a Mechanism to Boost Cognition and Wellbeing in Old Age
No full textThis is a 3-year ESRC grant awarded to Stephen Badham (PI
Badham Sanborn Maylor 2017
No full textFrom Study: Deficits in Category Learning in Older Adults: Rule-Based Versus Clustering Account
Integrative and semantic relations equally alleviate age-related associative memory deficits
No full textTwo experiments compared effects of integrative and semantic relations between pairs of words on lexical and memory processes in old age. Integrative relations occur when two dissimilar and unassociated words are linked together to form a coherent phrase (e.g., horse-doctor). In Experiment 1, older adults completed a lexical-decision task where prime and target words were related either integratively or semantically. The two types of relation both facilitated responses compared to a baseline condition, demonstrating that priming can occur in older adults with minimal preexisting associations between primes and targets. In Experiment 2, young and older adults completed a cued recall task with integrative, semantic, and unrelated word pairs. Both integrative and semantic pairs showed significantly smaller age differences in associative memory compared to unrelated pairs. Integrative relations facilitated older adults' memory to a similar extent as semantic relations despite having few preexisting associations in memory. Integratability of stimuli is therefore a new factor that reduces associative deficits in older adults, most likely by supporting encoding and retrieval mechanisms
Health and fitness marketing appeals to older consumers
No full textGlobal aging means that establishing methods to promote physical activity in older consumers has positive health outcomes. Four studies were conducted that investigated the role of support in encouraging physical activity in older consumers. Study 1 qualitatively showed that external social and technological support alongside internal motivational goals was responsible for driving physical activity in older consumers. Studies 2 and 3 established if cognitive ageing theory on environmental support could encourage imagery appeals and increase motivation for physical exercise. Physical exercise was easier to visualize and was more appealing when promoted to older consumers who were standing up compared to sitting down. Study 4 showed that older consumers were least confident at completing vigorous physical activity, which should be a focus for industry and policymakers. Overall, support that reduces cognitive demands may be an effective method of encouraging physical activity by improving visualization and raising motivation and confidence in older consumers
Antimnemonic effects of schemas in young and older adults
No full textSchema-consistent material that is aligned with an individual’s knowledge and experience is typically more memorable than abstract material. This effect is often more extreme in older adults and schema use can alleviate age deficits in memory. In three experiments, young and older adults completed memory tasks where the availability of schematic information was manipulated. Specifying nonobvious relations between to-be-remembered word pairs paradoxically hindered memory (Experiment 1). Highlighting relations within mixed lists of related and unrelated word pairs had no effect on memory for those pairs (Experiment 2). This occurred even though related word pairs were recalled better than unrelated word pairs, particularly for older adults. Revealing a schematic context in a memory task with abstract image segments also hindered memory performance, particularly for older adults (Experiment 3). The data show that processing schematic information can come with costs that offset mnemonic benefits associated with schema-consistent stimuli
What you know can influence what you are going to know (especially for older adults)
No full textStimuli related to an individual’s knowledge/
experience are often more memorable than abstract stimuli,
particularly for older adults. This has been found when material
that is congruent with knowledge is contrasted with material
that is incongruent with knowledge, but there is little
research on a possible graded effect of congruency. The present
study manipulated the degree of congruency of study
material with participants’ knowledge. Young and older participants
associated two famous names to nonfamous faces,
where the similarity between the nonfamous faces and the real
famous individuals varied. These associations were incrementally
easier to remember as the name–face combinations became
more congruent with prior knowledge, demonstrating a
graded congruency effect, as opposed to an effect based
simply on the presence or absence of associations to prior
knowledge. Older adults tended to show greater susceptibility
to the effect than young adults, with a significant age difference
for extreme stimuli, in line with previous literature showing
that schematic support in memory tasks particularly benefits
older adults
The older population is more cognitively able than in the past and age-related deficits in cognition are diminishing over time
No full textSupplementary Material
- …
