Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

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Open Access Thesis

Keywords

Memory--Ability testing; Memory--Age factors;

Abstract

Research on age-related changes in prospective memory has yielded mixed research results. Some research has shown no age-related impairments, while other research has shown age-related impairments. The present study investigated variables affecting these different findings in prospective memory research. Subjects between the ages of 18-92 were asked to identify pictures presented to them. The prospective memory task required subjects to identify individuals wearing glasses and to indicate this by circling the number on their answer sheet corresponding to the picture being presented. Order of instructions presented to subjects was also manipulated. Half of the subjects received the prospective memory instructions before the retrospective instructions while the other half of the subjects received the retrospective memory instructions before the prospective instructions. Results indicated that order of instructions had no impact on prospective memory performance. The findings did show an age effect for age-related declines in prospective memory. Prospective memory performance for subjects over the age of 55 years old was lower than that of college aged students. Implications for future research are discussed.

Year of Submission

1998

Degree Name

Master of Arts

Department

Department of Psychology

First Advisor

Julia Wallace

Second Advisor

M. Shelton Smith

Third Advisor

Andrew Gilpin

Comments

If you are the rightful copyright holder of this thesis and wish to have it removed from the Open Access Collection, please submit a request to scholarworks@uni.edu and include clear identification of the work, preferably with URL.

Date Original

1998

Object Description

1 PDF file (55 leaves)

Language

en

File Format

application/pdf

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