Question:

Essay question:

“Discuss the influence of aging process on working memory”

The essay consists of three parts:

Part 1.Cover sheet stating that the work is your own.
Part 2.The actual essay, excluding the reference list. The word count is based on this document.
Part 3.Reference list. Even though it is separate, this is only to avoid counting it towards the plagiarism check.

Only focus on scientific writing style, coherence of writing, appropriate use of subsections, comprehension of literature, and general APA standards.

Main book is – Memory by Alan Baddeley and Michael Eysenck and Michael Anderson

Answer:

Discuss the influence of aging process on working memory

Introduction

In recent years, the mean age of populations has been increasing. This trend is one of the factors contributing to renewed research interest in neurodegenerative diseases. Early diagnosis is important because it allows for timely therapeutic intervention. The aging process tends to have an effect on working memory. For this reason, a lot of research in this field focuses on the relationship between adult age, cognitive functioning, and working memory.

According to Salthouse (1990), the effects of aging on an individual’s working memory may be classified as either within-context or out-of-context factors. In within-context assessments, observations about the capacity of the working memory are made while the participant is undertaking actual cognitive tasks. On the other hand, out-of-context assessments are obtained while the individual is performing tasks that are specially designed to determine the level of efficiency of certain aspects of the individual’s working memory. In both assessments, outcomes suggest that increased age during adult years is associated with decreased effectiveness of the working memory. This paper discusses the influence of the aging process on working memory.

Within-context assessments

One of the most recurring hypotheses addressing cognitive performance variations in relation to age focus on differences in the effectiveness of the individual’s working memory (Salthouse, 1990). Welford (1958) was among the first researchers to discuss the relationship between increased age and a decline in cognitive functioning. According to Welford (1958), this decline was evident in limitations in the ability by individuals to process and structure information simultaneously.

Light & Anderson (1985) observe that in many studies, the working-memory hypothesis addresses the correlation between age differences and cognitive performance. Researchers have sought to determine this correlation by collecting measures of an individual’s working memory followed by performance measures on different cognitive tasks (Baddeley, Eysenck, & Anderson, 2009). They then make comparisons to determine correlation. Some researchers determine correlations between the measures while others put into consideration correlations between the age of an adult and his cognitive performance (Arenberg, 1974; Light & Anderson, 1985; Welford, 1958; Kensinger & Corkin, 2004). In both cases, an assessment of the working memory is normally put into consideration. Such studies have shown that the aging process has an influence on working memory.

In this research, it is important to determine how working-memory limitations relating to age could bring about age-related impairment in cognitive functioning. In one study, Salthouse & Skovronek (1992) hypothesized that there is an association between increased age and poor performance in numerous cognitive tasks. According to Salthouse & Skovronek (1992), this poor performance arises because the older individuals find it increasingly difficult to preserve all the relevant information while remaining engaged in the appropriate task-related processing.

In within-context assessments, tasks are normally designed in such a way that different types of information can be assessed as subjects attempt to perform certain cognitive activities. In many cases, such activities tend to be moderately complex. In contrast, out-of-context assessments are carried out when no cognitive task is on-going. Instead, the task at hand is deliberately designed to explore the properties of the working memory of the aging individual. An example of an out-of-context assessment is a measure in which an individual is required to remember a number of line segments while at the same time undertaking specified processing. The goal in this exercise is to remember as many line segments as possible. At the same time, the individual is required to create new lines between the designated points. In this assessment, the objective is to estimate the general capacity by the subject to process and store spatial information simultaneously.

Within-context measures of the influence of aging process on working memory tend to vary depending on context as well as the cognitive activity being undertaken. However, it is unfortunate that very little information is available as far as comparisons of within-context and out-of-context measures at different ages are concerned. Moreover, there are also disagreements on how best to conceptualize differences in the performance of working memory among individuals belonging to different adult age brackets (Baddeley, Eysenck, & Anderson, 2009).

According to Salthouse & Skovronek (1992), the difficulties in conceptualizing these differences are clear upon analysis of available research results. In most cases, these results address aspects of impaired processing efficiency, reduced storage capacity, and diminished capability for the coordination of simultaneous activities (Baddeley, Eysenck, & Anderson, 2009). Despite these problems, Salthouse & Skovronek (1992) argue that there is heuristic value in attributing age-related variations in cognitive functioning to a reduction in the simultaneous processing and storage of information.

Effect of aging process on working memory

The term “working memory” is used to refer to the ability by an individual to encode, maintain, and manipulate information that is no longer available in the environment (Baddeley, Eysenck, & Anderson, 2009). This includes information regarding recent events, abstract rules, and objectives for future actions. Baddeley, Eysenck, & Anderson (2009) point out that the information stored in working memory of human beings is generally retained for only a few seconds. However, in rodents, it can last for seconds, minutes, and sometimes even hours. In both humans and rodents, tasks based on working memory have to be isolated from all information relating to previous trials (Baddeley, Eysenck, & Anderson, 2009). During this process, individuals actively resist all forms of proactive distraction and interference.

Among human beings, assessments of working memory often include both the recall and manipulation of all the information that needs to be remembered. An example of an item that may require to be recalled is an individual’s phone number. One of way of manipulating information is by reversing the sequence of numbers in a given series. moreover, one may be expected to recall information in the presence of many explicit distracters.

During the aging process, human go through many biological and psychological changes. Some changes are positive while others are negative. The aging brain undergoes certain neuro-physiological and neuro-anatomical changes (Baddeley, Eysenck, & Anderson, 2009). As changes occur in the structure and function of the brain, various corresponding alterations occur in cognitive function. However, the complexity of neural and cognitive functions makes mapping between the human brain behaviour very difficult. For this reason, the relations remain speculative but ultimately testable.

Although older people may appear to be going through an overall cognitive decline, it is evident that there is enormous variability across individuals. In some cognitive tasks, older people tend to outperform young people. For many aging researchers, a crucial question is on how to account for this variability (Baddeley, Eysenck, & Anderson, 2009). In many instances, the researchers attempt to rely on various theories of aging that have been developed within different cognitive domains.

At the heart of the discourse on cognitive aging is the discussion on the working memory. As a multidimensional construct, the working memory is normally hypothesized as a key source of age-related impairment as far as different cognitive tasks are concerned. Such cognitive tasks include language, long-term memory, decision making, and problem solving. In fact, most theories of cognitive aging appear to attribute age-related deficits to the working memory. In all working memory models, there is agreement among researchers that a limited capacity system exists (Baddeley, Eysenck, & Anderson, 2009). In this system, all information being maintained within focal attention has to be actively manipulated.

On the other hand, primary or short-term memory enables humans to maintain information over a limited period. For example, an individual may need to maintain his friend’s phone number in his short-term memory. To do this, he has to rehearse the number. Older adults show minimal deficits in their short-term memory. According to Baddeley, Eysenck, & Anderson, 2009), the older adults can typically maintain 7 ± 2 digits in their minds provided the digits have been rehearsed. However, repeating these numbers backwards requires an active level of manipulation or reorganization of information contained in short-term memory. This task requires working memory and impairments may become evident with age.

Working memory tends to exhibit some characteristics of a divided-attention task. The contents held in the short-term memory have to be maintained while simultaneously being processed or manipulated for other purposes. At this juncture, it is imperative to note that attention deficits tend to increase with age. With this fact in mind, it is not surprising that the working memory of older adults tends to be impaired. Although there is a consensus that the working memory of older adults tends to be impaired, there are disagreements on the mechanisms involved (Baddeley, Eysenck, & Anderson, 2009).

Theoretical perspectives on working memory

There is a growing research interest in ways of testing various theories of working memory (Baddeley, Eysenck, & Anderson, 2009; West, 1999; Salthouse & Skovronek, 1992; Salthouse, 1990). Three main theoretical perspectives have been developed to explain the nature of working memory (Baddeley, Eysenck, & Anderson, 2009). In the first theory, focus is on reduced attentional resources. The second theory focuses on the reduction of the speed at which information is processed. In the third theory, working memory deficit is attributed to a failure of inhibitory control mechanisms by the older adult.

In theories that draw a relationship between age and decline in working memory, it is generally assumed that the main underlying factor is the reduction in various processing resources. This assumption is commonly held by the proponents of the theory of attentional resources (Korol & Gold, 1998). According to this theory, the resource limitation is attentional in nature and is a reflection of a reduction in one’s mental energy (Korol & Gold, 1998).

The areas that suffer the most significant levels of impairment are normally observed in tasks whose attentional demands are high. In contrast, tasks that require little or no attention tend to be largely unaffected. Working memory tasks normally involve divided attention. Therefore, there is normally a high likelihood that the limited attentional resources of an older adult will be strained. The main problem is that this theory, though intuitively appealing, offers a descriptive perspective as opposed to an explanatory one. Moreover, the notion of attentional resources is yet to be properly defined.

Some researchers have suggested that issues relating to levels of arousal and neural efficiency should be put into consideration in research on the theory of attentional resources (West, 1999; Kensinger & Corkin, 2004; Baddeley, Eysenck, & Anderson, 2009; Essig & Van Buchem, 2012). However, much needs to be done before this theoretical approach can obtain universal acceptance. A particularly important area of focus should entail empirical demonstration of various neuro-physical correlates.

Another theoretical approach examines the speed at which information is processed. Within this perspective, speed is considered a resource. Furthermore, age-related deficits in cognitive tasks such as working memory are explained in terms of a slowing-down of information processing. Essig & Van Buchem (2012) observe that in literature relating to the aging process, very few researchers dispute the view that older adults undertake tasks more slowly compared to younger adults and that this slowing of key cognitive processes has a far-reaching impact on more complex tasks.

Debate has been directed at assessments of the extent to which the generalized slowing is demonstrated in empirical findings. It also focuses on whether there is a need for more process-specific components in explaining the slowing of information processing by older adults. According to Salthouse (1990), most age-related differences in the performance of cognitive tasks such as long-term and working memory occur after information processing slows down, particularly among older adults.

Salthouse (1990) argues that one’s speed of processing should be regarded as a cognitive primitive. However, opponents of this view suggest that the speed of information processing as well as working memory contribute independently to higher-level cognition (Davidson, 2002). This suggestion leads to the conclusion that deficits in working memory must be accounted for on the basis of other factors apart from speed of information processing. At a certain level, it is evident that slowed processing, just like attentional resources, acts more like a descriptor of the aging cognition than a source of explanation for various cognitive deficits. For instance, it does not explain why information processing slows with age. This shows that it may be helpful to clarify mechanisms by discovering of various neuro-physiological correlates.

The theory of inhibitory control also sheds some light on the influence of aging process on working memory. According to Hasher (1988), older adults are more likely to be affected by cognitive deficits because of a lack of inhibitory control. In Hasher’s (1988) view, older adults find it difficult to suppress irrelevant information that finds its way into working memory. This information effectively reduces the capacity of working memory, thereby denying it access to some of the most relevant information.

The example of long strings of words or digits is normally used to demonstrate the weakening of the capacity for inhibitory control among older adults. In this example, increasingly long lists of words or digits may be presented in a successive manner across trials. Some old individuals find it difficult to delete words or digits of previous trails from working memory. Age deficit is demonstrated whenever the older adults find it difficult to create “working space” for the incoming new stimuli (Baddeley, Eysenck, & Anderson, 2009).

In some instances, older adults appear to encounter interference only under some conditions. However, more studies need to be carried out in order to ensure that the inhibitory deficit account is strengthened by additional empirical evidence. An alternative view that should also be explored is the possibility that different types of inhibition exist. Furthermore, another view worth examining suggests that effects relating to age are task-specific (Baddeley, Eysenck, & Anderson, 2009).

Implications of age-related deficits in working memory

From this discussion, it is evident that the aging process significantly influences working memory. Older adults encounter deficits in a variety of tasks, particularly those that involve active manipulation, integration of content held in working memory, and reorganization. Although it is not yet clear which mechanisms underlie these deficits, their effects are far-reaching.

There are many everyday tasks that involve problem-solving, decision-making, as well as planning and execution of goal-directed behaviours. These are complex tasks that require information to be integrated and reorganized from numerous sources. It is likely that attention, ability to exercise inhibitory control over irrelevant information, and speed of information processing, all play crucial roles in ensuring that the individual performs well in various higher-level cognitive tasks.

Two major views are used to explain age-related deficit phenomenon in relation to working memory (Baddeley, Eysenck, & Anderson, 2009). One view suggests that these functions should be subsumed within a single domain-general executive controller. This controller is assumed to be impaired by the aging process. The other view proposes that there are multiple control processes that are normally affected independently by aging. The latter view is a subject of recent literature. Moreover, recent literature also addresses debate on the regions of the brain that exhibit the highest level of activity during the performance of tasks relating to working memory. The latter debate is based largely active functional neuro-imaging studies.

Conclusion

In summary, there is sufficient research evidence indicating that the aging process influences working memory in significant ways. This evidence provides three major explanations; namely reduced attentional resources, the ability to exercise inhibitory control over irrelevant information, and the speed of information processing. These explanations offer crucial insights into the nature of working memory. They reinforce the view that for working memory to perform effectively, a person has to engage in a divided-attention task. In this task, the contents being held in the short-term memory have to be maintained while simultaneously being processed or manipulated for other purposes.

The working memory tends to be adversely affected by the cognitive changes that are common among older adults. Some of these cognitive changes manifest themselves in the slow processing speed, reduced ability to inhibit irrelevant information, and reduction of attentional resources. With this fact in mind, it is not surprising that the working memory of older adults tends to be impaired.

 

References

Arenberg, D. (1974). A longitudinal study of problem solving in adults. Journal of Gerontology, 29(27), 650–658.

Baddeley, A., Eysenck, M. & Anderson, M. (2009). Memory. London: Psychology Press.

Davidson, P. (2002). Is flashbulb memory a special instance of source memory? Evidence from older adults. Memory, 10(3). 99-139.

Essig, M. & Van Buchem, M. (2012). Degenerative brain disease and aging. Rome: Springer-Verlag.

Hasher. L, (1988). Working memory, comprehension, and aging: A review and a new view. New York: Academic Press.

Kensinger, E. & Corkin, S. (2004). The effects of emotional content and aging on false memories. Cognitive, Affective ,& Behavioral Neuroscience, 4(1), 1-9.

Korol, D. & Gold, P. (1998). Glucose, memory, and aging. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 67(4), 764-771.

Light, L. & Anderson, P. (1985). Working-Memory Capacity, Age, and Memory for Discourse, Journal of Gerontology, 40(6), 737-747.

Salthouse, T. & Skovronek, E. (1992). Within-Context  Assessment  of Age Differences in Working Memory. Journal of Gerontology, 47(3), l l0-120.

Salthouse, T. (1990). Working memory as a processing resource in cognitive aging. Developmental Review, 10(3), 101-124.

Welford, A. (1958). Ageing and human skill. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

West, R. (1999). Visual distraction, working memory, and aging. Memory & Cognition, 27(6), 1064-1072.