Task Switching

Participants were led to an isolated lab room were they participated in a task-switching experiment. They were involved in 2 tasks a magnitude test and an odd even task. There was 100 randomly assigned trials 50% task-switch and 50% task-repeat that were completed by the participants. There were different type keys presented to the participants such as: z for an odd number, x for an even number, m for a number (>) than 5,

It is very common to hear people from various age groups talk about how they feel like their memory is failing them, as they are getting older. They then begin hypothesizing that they could be suffering from early onset dementia, which then causes them to panic. A famous dramatist of ancient Greece by the name of Aeschylus once said, “Memory is the mother of all wisdom.” This quote highlights the importance of memory for it represents a part of history and provides one with a sense of past. That is important for many reasons especially for making one’s future stronger since future always takes off from the past. Hence, people’s fear of memory loss is something understandable for they cannot imagine their memory quitting them moreover the daunting effect it will have on them. Unfortunately, 47.5 million people worldwide suffer from

Dementia is a disease that has been characterized as a deficiency of permanent memory which leads to a decrease in recent memory that can interfere with the ability to engage in professional and social activities (Hamdy, Hamdy, Hudgins, & Piotrowski, 2014). Even recent studies have shown that dementia is not a part of the normal aging process, it has become a very serious and common condition among the older population. An estimated 35.6 million people, with 7.7 million cases diagnosed each year are affected with dementia according to the World Health Organization (WHO) (Hamdy, Hamdy, Hudgins, & Piotrowski, 2014).

1.1 Dementia is the progressive decline in the cognitive function, involving all aspects of perception, thinking, reasoning and remembering. This is largely to do with damage or disease. This is progressive and leads to the deterioration of the mind, affecting an individual’s ability to concentrate on daily tasks. The memory is often affected, causing them to forget people, dates and events that are recent to them, behaviour can be erratic and noticeably different than is usual for them, and the ability to control feelings is also affected. As the disease progresses as do the signs and symptoms.

Kevin Arnold once said, “Memory is a way of holding on to the things you love, the things you are, and the things you never want to lose.” Memories are the things hold on to in life. Whether it’s bad or good, memories are engraved in us and as we carry them through our everyday lives they become a part of us. But what if as times goes by, those memories start to disappear? Imagine that the things you held onto for years could no longer be conjured up no matter how hard you tried. Or even worse, you begin to lose your language skills, ability to recognize familiar things and in turn, start to feel paranoid and confused constantly. For those who suffer from Alzheimer’s, as they age they experience a serious deterioration in one’s self.

Our identities are formed through a very distinct process in which our senses interpret the events that we experience. By using our senses and our memories, we act according to what our brains remember and create pictures and impressions of ourselves. These pictures and impressions constitute our identities. However, our identities can become complicated by memories that have overwhelming emotional significance. Traumatic memories cannot be remembered as easily as regular memories can, making it difficult to have a strong personal identity. Martha Stout’s “When I Woke Up Tuesday Morning, It Was Friday” discusses how trauma can cause the brain to incorrectly process memories, rendering them incomplete and

As we age, it is natural for cognitive deterioration, however if this deterioration significantly impairs one’s independence, a diagnosis of major neurocognitive disorder is given There are currently 24 to 36 million people with neurocognitive disorders around the world, with 4.6 million new cases emerging each year (Hollingworth, P., Harold, D., Jones, L., Owen, M. J., & Williams, J. (2011); Ames, D., Chiu, E., Lindsesay, J., & Shulman, K. I., 2010). Those suffering with a neurocognitive disorder experience a significant decline in facets of cognitive function such as: memory and learning, attention, perceptual motor skills, planning and decision making, language ability, or social cognition (APA, 2013, 2012). Alzheimer’s disease is the most

This appalling infection brings up an exceptionally basic philosophical inquiry: Does the loss of memory mean the loss of individual personality? Albeit most people who have considered this situation hold that relinquishment of memory equivalents a change or even loss of individual character, this paper will demonstrate this is not as a matter of course genuine. Keeping in mind the end goal to completely see how this lesser held perspective is, truth be told, genuine one should first fathom both the organic and mental impacts of Alzheimer 's. Along these lines, this paper will be isolated into two sections. The primary part will show the causes, results, and medicines for Alzheimer 's. In the second area, supporting proof will be advanced keeping in mind the end goal to demonstrate that a halfway or even finish loss of self-portraying memory does not constitute a change in or the obliteration of individual character.

Does multitasking increase or hinder your efficiency to preform or carry out a task. This has been the age old question in which people have been trying to answer. Many students now listen to music while doing homework as well as many adults do while working but is this actually getting things done in a timelier and efficient way? In my experiment I’m taking a group of children, giving them a simple math test while listening to music, then giving them a similar test in a quiet environment usually provided in a test taking area. I think the music will increase the overall scoring and increase the time of the students taking the test.

Since people converse so frequently, many do not realize how much episodic memory plays a role in simple day-to-day interaction. When one asks “What did you do today?”, you are assuming the other person remembers everything they did that day (Jones, 2015). For two people with good episodic memory, this type of conversation is successful and efficient. However, this kind of question may raise frustration or confusion for some with dementia. If a presumption of remembering details about a “typical” topic was made, inability to successfully recall can project incompetency that people with dementia try to avoid (Jones,

Almost everyone has experienced the situation where he sees someone familiar, but cannot think of that person’s name, or he has shopped in a mall and cannot remember where the car is parked. Anyone over the age of sixty-five would probably panic, fearing that he has Alzheimer’s disease, since age is a huge risk factor related to memory loss. He may ask himself, “Is something wrong with me, or am I just getting old?” Much of our population is terrified of developing Alzheimer’s disease or of watching a loved one slowly and gradually fade away. Alzheimer’s disease is the most common cause of dementia, which is when the brain loses the ability to function mostly in keeping short-term memories, progressing to lack of cognitive function, and eventually causing death (Atkins, 2008, pp. 3).

If people make a list of tasks to do in a week, one will most likely do the ones they find most relevant first and then the least important. The same thing happens with the memory; people have a tendency to remember things based on their importance. Previous research has been done comparing young adults and older adults’ memory based on the intention-superiority effect and as the results suggested young adults scored higher in remembering the things they were going to do compared with the things they already did. This same study was replicated with undergraduate students. In the present study, the aim was to investigate if this effect occurs in older adults compare to Alzheimer’s disease (AD) patients. They hypothesized that the number of tasks the participants would remember

Our memories are priceless. It makes our life beautiful and worth living. Most importantly, it connects us with people around us. But what if those memories start fading away? What if it becomes difficult to remember names of people or places? This is the horror of Alzheimer’s, a form of dementia affecting millions of people across the globe. It is also one leading cause of death globally.

“Memory is a way of holding on to the things you love, the things you are, and the things you never want to lose.” –Keven Arnold. Memories are the part of our life that we stick by. Good or bad, memories are embossed in us and are there for life, but what if as time went by, you lost your ability to keep hold on those memories? Even worse, you begin losing your ability to communicate with words, recognizing familiar faces and places. It makes you start to feel confused and a sense of depression. What if you were or were not completely aware of the deterioration in yourself?

Memory as a whole is often broken down into smaller more specialized components, The focus of this essay will be on declarative memory, which is a form of long-term memory that requires conscious retrieval of previously learned information, and the subcategories semantic memory and episodic memory. Episodic memory consists of personal experiences and as such includes autobiographical memories of the self. Semantic memory is primarily composed of generalized factual information. As both episodic and semantic memory are as stated earlier examples of long-term memory, they are as such subject to changes over time, due to vulnerability to forgetting. Though memory is a fundamental component of everyday functioning, it is not necessarily reliable