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
-Decreased memory caused by the distraction task demonstrates:

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
-Decreased memory caused by the distraction task demonstrates:

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

11ecba2d_0c85_4d4f_a3bf_83b98dcff2f9_MD0008_00 Exposure to a distraction can interfere with the ability to accurately retrieve a memory or learn new information. This type of interference commonly contributes to nonpathological memory loss. Retroactive interference occurs when more recent information interferes with one's ability to recall older information. For example, a man is introduced to Lisa (first event) and then to Lucy (second event). Later, he cannot remember the name "Lisa" because "Lucy," the second name he heard, keeps interfering with his ability to remember the older information. In the memory studies, the participants were asked to memorize neutral items (first event) and then subjected to a distraction (second event). The distraction, which was the more recent event, retroactively interfered with the participants' abilities to recall the items. Proactive interference occurs when previously learned information interferes with one's ability to recall new information. For example, if one of the participants memorized a grocery list before the study (first event), and then had trouble recalling the items they were asked to memorize (second event) because they kept remembering items from their grocery list, this would be proactive interference (Choice C). (Choice A) Anterograde amnesia is a form of pathological memory loss in which a person cannot form new memories after the incident that caused the amnesia (eg, traumatic brain injury due to a car crash). (Choice B) Retrograde amnesia is a form of pathological memory loss in which a person cannot access memories that were encoded before the incident that caused the amnesia (eg, a stroke). Educational objective: Retroactive interference occurs when recently encoded information prevents the recall of older information. Proactive interference occurs when previously encoded information prevents the recall of newer information.

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