COGNITIVE CHANGES IN THE ELDERLY

By Kathy Jorgensen

COGNITION

  • "the act or process of knowing; perception" or "knowledge" [Webster’s Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary (1994)]

COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT

  • "They tell you that you’ll lose your mind when you get older. What they don’t tell you is that you won’t miss it very much." (Cowley, 1980, p. 28)

COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT

  • "It has been quite a relief to be in this retirement home. . . everyone here forgets names and words, and I don’t feel alone when I’m forgetful" (Liz, 87 years old)

COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT

  • "Dear P: Here’s something you will appreciate, author unknown, "A friend knows the song in my heart and sings it for me when my memory fails." Luv, B. (age 75) in McDougall and Ebersole (1997)

FEAR OF SENILITY

  • often leads elderly to interpret ordinary memory lapses as senility.

RESEARCHER

  • "A 35 year-old who forgets his hat is forgetful, but if the same thing happens to grandpa we start wondering if his mind is going."
  • (Siegler, quoted in Meer,1986, p.62)

UNIVERSAL TRUTH

  • Process of aging has a singularly unique onset, rate, and pattern for each person

COGNITIVE FUNCTIONS

  • do not change or decline at the same pace
  • memorization of facts may be difficult but wisdom is evident.

ASSESSING INTELLECTUAL FUNCTIONING

  • multiple factors
  • may be compounded by the presence of several different factors in an individual

FACTORS -- OVERALL HEALTH STATUS

  • anemia
  • lung disease
  • poor circulation
  • blood pressure or blood sugar changes

OVERALL HEALTH STATUS

  • hypothyroidism
  • fluid or nutritional imbalance

FACTORS -- MEDICATIONS

  • Over-the-counter or prescribed
  • Some may slow or interfere with cognitive processes due to elimination from the body

FACTORS -- MEDICATIONS (cont.)

  • Drug overdose (taking excess medication)
  • "Polypharmacy" (taking unneeded combinations of drugs -- can cause drug interactions)

FACTORS -- SENSORY IMPAIRMENTS

  • Vision and/or hearing interfere with
  • perception
  • consequent learning
  • appropriate behavior

FACTORS -- OTHER

  • sociocultural influence
  • motivation
  • interest in subject area

FACTORS -- (cont.)

  • educational level
  • time since formal education
  • isolation from others

FACTORS (cont.)

  • deliberate caution
  • taking more time to do something new
  • utilize adaptive measures such as conserving time and emotional energy

INITIAL LEVEL OF ABILITY -
IMPORTANT

  • "A bright 20 year old will be a bright 70 year old."
  • (Dworetzky, 1995)

CRYSTALLIZED INTELLIGENCE

  • Knowledge and cognitive ability maintained over the lifespan, dependent on;
  • sociocultural influences
  • life experiences and broad education

CRYSTALLIZED INTELLIGENCE

  • Measured in:
  • Facility with numbers
  • Verbal comprehension
  • Integrative ability
  • Interpretive ability

INFLUENCING CRYSTALLIZED INTELLIGENCE

  • amount the person has learned
  • diversity & complexity of environment

INFLUENCING CRYSTALLIZED INTELLIGENCE (cont.)

  • openness to new information
  • extent of learning opportunities

INCREASING CRYSTALLIZED INTELLIGENCE

  • Self-directed learning opportunities
  • Educational opportunities

FLUID INTELLIGENCE

  • consists of ability to perceive complex relationships
  • uses short term or rote memory
  • creates concepts; and
  • able to do abstract reasoning

FLUID INTELLIGENCE -- MEASURED

  • by ability to do tasks of
  • memory span
  • inductive reasoning
  • figures

INTELLECTUAL PLASTICITY

  • refers to the fact that an ability or performance level can vary depending on environmental, social and /or physical conditions.

INTELLECTUAL PLASTICITY (cont.)

  • variances may occur in the;
  • time to do a task
  • attention to or motivation for a task

INTELLECTUAL PLASTICITY (cont.)

  • amount of stimulus in the environment
  • cognitive training or education

IQ TESTING

  • average decline in IQ testing after age 60
  • some over 60 score higher than some younger people

IQ TESTING (cont.)

  • Retesting later shows little change
  • IQ tests are timed
  • Age-related decrease in speed

IQ TESTING (cont.)

  • Maintained in old age
  • general intelligence
  • verbal intelligence

IQ TESTING (cont.)

  • Maintained in old age (cont.)
  • problem solving
  • coordination of ideas & facts
  • judgment

IQ TESTING (cont.)

  • Maintained in old age (cont.)
  • well-practiced cognitive skills
  • wisdom

INTELLIGENCE

  • Memory can be improved with skills training and motivational incentives.

PRIMARY MENTAL ABILITIES

  • Longitudinal studies
  • Some declines after age 60
  • Declines of little significance

SKILL AT GAMES

  • Older players tend to continue their skill -- perhaps because speed is not important.

DECLARATIVE MEMORY

  • facts & events are "brought to mind"

DECLARATIVE MEMORY (cont.)

  • Ability to:
  • recognize a face,
  • recall a number
  • recall verbal information
  • recall sensory stimuli

IMPLICIT MEMORY

  • Unconscious expression of skills or habits without awareness
  • Example? ? ?

TERMINAL DROP IN IQ

  • Decrease in intellectual functioning as the individual approaches death

WORKING MEMORY

  • A term for short term memory that enables people to hold onto recently acquired information for 30 seconds to 4 minutes.

WORKING MEMORY

  • Example --
  • phone numbers

Lack of stimulation can be a major contributor to cognitive deficiencies.

HOW IS YOUR MEMORY?

  • How many of the scenes from the South Dakota canyou remember?

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