Passage
Research suggests that cognitive changes occur with age. Though dementia is common, occurring in about 14% of individuals age 71 and older and in almost 34% of individuals 90 and older, a majority of older adults exhibit some degree of "normal" cognitive decline. The following studies were conducted on 605 older adults (mean age = 78.2) who did not show any signs of dementia and 590 younger adult participants (mean age = 28.8) .Cognition studiesParticipants were asked to solve five puzzles designed to test their ability to apply new information, reason inductively and deductively, and use logic. Participants were also asked to complete a 20-item vocabulary and grammar test. The older adults performed significantly worse than the younger adults on the puzzles, but there was no significant difference between the groups on the vocabulary/grammar test.Focus studiesWhen asked to read a short story and then answer a series of questions assessing comprehension (focused condition) , older adults performed equally well as the younger adults. However, when asked to read a similar story while wearing headphones playing another story that was to be ignored (distraction condition) , older adults performed worse than younger adults when answering questions assessing comprehension of the story they read.Memory studiesWhen asked to memorize 30 neutral items (eg, a key, a pencil, a book) , the images of which were presented serially, younger adults performed significantly better when asked to list the items immediately after seeing them and when asked to list the items after performing a distraction task. In a second trial, both groups were serially presented with 30 pictures of faces showing positive, negative, or neutral expressions. The groups were later asked to identify these faces among a set of 100. Results are shown in Figure 1.
Figure 1 Average number of correctly identified faces for older and younger adult groups
-Which conclusion is best supported by the results of the memory studies?

Question

Passage
Research suggests that cognitive changes occur with age. Though dementia is common, occurring in about 14% of individuals age 71 and older and in almost 34% of individuals 90 and older, a majority of older adults exhibit some degree of "normal" cognitive decline. The following studies were conducted on 605 older adults (mean age = 78.2) who did not show any signs of dementia and 590 younger adult participants (mean age = 28.8) .Cognition studiesParticipants were asked to solve five puzzles designed to test their ability to apply new information, reason inductively and deductively, and use logic. Participants were also asked to complete a 20-item vocabulary and grammar test. The older adults performed significantly worse than the younger adults on the puzzles, but there was no significant difference between the groups on the vocabulary/grammar test.Focus studiesWhen asked to read a short story and then answer a series of questions assessing comprehension (focused condition) , older adults performed equally well as the younger adults. However, when asked to read a similar story while wearing headphones playing another story that was to be ignored (distraction condition) , older adults performed worse than younger adults when answering questions assessing comprehension of the story they read.Memory studiesWhen asked to memorize 30 neutral items (eg, a key, a pencil, a book) , the images of which were presented serially, younger adults performed significantly better when asked to list the items immediately after seeing them and when asked to list the items after performing a distraction task. In a second trial, both groups were serially presented with 30 pictures of faces showing positive, negative, or neutral expressions. The groups were later asked to identify these faces among a set of 100. Results are shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1 Average number of correctly identified faces for older and younger adult groups
-Which conclusion is best supported by the results of the memory studies?

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

11ecba2d_0c82_671c_a3bf_0f5016f5fc49_MD0008_00 Memory involves three steps: encoding, storage, and retrieval. Retrieval refers to accessing the encoded information from storage. There are three types of memory retrieval processes: recall, recognition, and relearning. Recall is the retrieval of information previously encoded. Free recall involves remembering without a hint or prompt, whereas cued recall involves remembering with the help of a hint or prompt. Immediate recall involves the retrieval of information immediately after it was learned, whereas delayed recall involves retrieval of information after some time has passed. Recognition involves the correct identification of information that one has been exposed to. Relearning involves re-encoding information that was previously learned but forgotten. Typically, relearning happens much faster than learning something for the first time. In the memory studies, participants were tested on their abilities to recall common objects and to recognize a group of faces. According to Figure 1, older adults demonstrated better recognition of faces with positive expressions than younger adults, suggesting improved recognition of certain faces. (Choice A) The results in Figure 1 suggest an overall age-related decline in recognition of faces but improved recognition of faces showing positive expressions. Delayed recall of faces was not assessed in this study. (Choices B and C) The first memory study showed that free recall of common objects declines with age. This study did not assess cued recall or recognition of common objects. Educational objective: Memory retrieval involves recall, recognition, and relearning. Recall is the retrieval of previously learned information without a prompt (free recall) or with a prompt (cued recall) and can be subdivided into immediate recall and delayed recall. Recognition involves identifying information that one has already been exposed to. Relearning involves re-encoding information that was previously learned but forgotten.

Passage Research Suggests That Cognitive Changes Occur with Age. Though Dementia