Mental Imagery: A memory aid for the Older Adult?

Abstract

Older adults demonstrate poor memory performance relative to young adults. This age-related difference in cognitive ability is reliably shown in most laboratory tests. Memory loss with age is also commonly reported by individuals as they reflect on developmental changes in their own behavior. Poor memory is so strongly associated with old age that is has become part of the stereotype of aging, alson with wrinkles and gray hair. It is a common belief that forgetting is one of the first signs of old age and that as we age it is natural and inevitable that we lose our memory. Further, many believe that memory loss is irreversible. The goal of researchers studying age-related changes in cognitive functioning is to determine to what extent decline with age can be prevented and to what extent memory problems associated with aging can be eliminated through mnemonic training. There is evidence that the poorer performance of the elderly may be due, in part, to age-related differences in the use of imaginai processing. Consequently, the use of mental imagery as a memory aid has become an important area of research for gerontologists.