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| The finding that the magnitude of age differences in cognitive performance increases with the complexity of the task |
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| The research field that attempts to solve real-life problems of older adults by utillizing what is known about their cognitive abilities. |
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| An important resource in the information-processing system, determining which information is processed; it is thought to be limited in quantity and under the direction of some executive control mechanism. |
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| Processing that require little or no attention or conscious awareness and may be inherent or result from extensive practice. |
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| The long neural fiber extending away from the cell body of the neuron, responsible for transmitting a nerve impulse. |
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| A characteristic of the vascular system of the brain that prevents many potentially harmful blood-borne substances from entering the brain. |
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| A component of working memory that oversees information processing, assisted by the articulatory loop and the visuospatial scratch pad. |
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| The one-fourth-inch covering over the cerbrum, where higher-order mental activity takes place. |
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| Short, brnaching neural fiber that extends from the cell body of the neuron and that receives information from elsewhere in the nervous system. |
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| The idea that the poorer performance of older adults on some measures of cognitive ability is due to lack of the relevant skills - the "use it or lose it" idea. |
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| A neurotransmitter that affects frontal cortex functions-such as attention, processing speed, and working memory-also affects motor function. |
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Refers to the relevance of laboratory-based research findings to explaining real-life behavior. |
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Information-processing operations that require attention. |
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Perceiving and comprehending information during information processing; transforming sensory information into a code that the information-processing system can handle. |
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| Memory for events experienced by the individual, stored with contextual information such as time and place. |
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| Conscious recollection of previous experiences. |
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| The front portion of each cerebral hemisphere, involved in executive functions such as planning and decision making. |
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Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging
(fMRI) |
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| An advancement in magnetic resonance imaging that provides information about brain function. |
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Generalized Slowing Hypothesis |
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| The idea that all information-processing activities slow with age, affecting both quality and quantity of cognitive abilities. |
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| A finger-shaped structure in the limbic system that is involved in memory. |
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| The Research field that makes use of what is known about cognitive, perceptual, and motor behaviors to design safer and more efficient tools and environments. |
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| Unintentional, nonconscious recollection. |
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| The idea of Myerson and associates that cognitive processes slow with age as a result of cumulative and accelerating loss of information at each processing step. |
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Information-Processing Theory |
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| A collection of concepts that attempts to explain what the mind does with information. |
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Levels-of-Processing Model |
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| Craik and Lockhart's hypothesis that memory is affected by the wuality and extent of processing the individual engages in during encoding; semantic processing (processing at the level of meaning) is considered to be a deeper and more powerful level. |
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The unlimited-capacity, permanent-storage component of the human memory system. |
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| The capacity to use a variety of approaches and perspectives, resulting in alternative solutions to cognitive problems. |
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| A chemical substance produced in the brain that may regulate the sprouting of nerve fibers. |
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Neuronal Reserve Capacity |
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| The hypothesis that education early in life may increase the number and strength of synapses in the brain, thus providing a reserve supply that may help to offset neuronal loss with aging. |
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| A family of proteins, including nerve growth factor, that may facilitate the growth and regeneration of neural tissue. |
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| Failure to respond to a test item. |
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| A term proposed by Baddeley and Hitch to refer to the component of working memory that temporarily stores speech-based information. |
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| Within-person modifiability-the idea that an individual's debelopment is modifiable, within limits, based on one's life conditions and experiences; in regard to the brain, its capacity to modify its structure and function in response to damage. |
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Principle of Encoding Specifically |
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| The idea that the nature of task determines the best encoding strategy. |
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| The effect of past experience on present performance, skill memory. |
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| Remembering to perform an action in the future. |
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| Refers to functional duplication in the brain, with many sets of neurons responsible for similar tasks. |
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| Finding and activating a stored memory. |
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| General knowledge of facts and vocabulary. |
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| A component of the memory system characterized by limited duration, capacity, and resulting rapid turnover; a holding system for information as it is processed for long-term memory. |
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| The growth of new dendritic or axonic fibers of neurons. |
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| Maintaining information over time. |
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| The small, fluid-filled space between two neurons or between a neuron and a muscle or gland. |
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| The rapid decline in performance on measures of cognitive ability in the period before death. |
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| The term used by Baddeley and Hitch to refer to a component of working memory that temporarily stores visual and spatial information. |
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| A place in the human memory system where current mental activity occurs - characterized by limited resources and consisting of the central executive, the pheological loop, and the visuospatial sketchpad. |
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