Cognitive Aging: A Primer

As our society ages and the importance of managing information and technology in daily life increases - even in homes and communities - the topic of cognitive aging is becoming increasingly important. Cognitive Aging: A Primeris a comprehensive and accessible overview of how the cognitive system changes as a function of normal aging, as well as what areas of cognitive function are more resistant to age changes. Each chapter is written by a distinguished researcher with expert knowledge and considerable hands-on research expertise in his/her topic. Cognitive Aging: A Primerreviews all core topics, and is divided into four sections. The first section provides an overview of basic issues and mechanisms, while the second discusses the important topics of attention and memory, and includes a chapter on the cognitive neuropsychology of the aging brain. A third section focuses on language and speech, while the final section discusses some of the implications of age- related changes incognitive function for everyday life. This volume is designed to fulfill a need for a review of this important topic accessible to advanced undergraduate and beginning graduate students, as well as to provide thoughtful, comprehensive, and highly readable overviews of various aspects of cognitive aging to individuals from all disciplines.

List of contributors	p. ix
Preface	p. xi
Basic mechanisms	p. 1
The basic mechanisms accounting for age-related decline in cognitive function	p. 3
Overview of findings from the cognitive aging literature	p. 6
Mechanisms of cognitive aging	p. 8
Summary	p. 19
References	p. 19
Concepts and mechanisms of gains in cognitive aging	p. 23
The idea of gains	p. 23
Conceptualizing gains and losses	p. 24
Complementary perspectives	p. 25
Treatments of gains and losses issue	p. 25
Conceptualizing gains in the context of losses	p. 29
Conclusion	p. 38
References	p. 39
Pressing issues in cognitive aging	p. 43
Process	p. 44
Product	p. 48
Process times product	p. 50
Conclusion	p. 54
References	p. 54
Attention and memory	p. 55
Attention and aging	p. 57
Varieties of attention	p. 58
A general theory of age-related attention differences	p. 68
Summary of age-related differences in attention	p. 69
Future directions in attention research	p. 70
Practical applications	p. 70
References	p. 71
Age-related changes in human memory	p. 75
Types of memory	p. 75
Procedural memory	p. 77
The perceptual representational system	p. 78
Primary memory and working memory	p. 80
Episodic memory	p. 82
Semantic memory	p. 84
Conclusion	p. 87
References	p. 88
Cognitive neuropsychology of the aging brain	p. 93
Brain structure and the effects of age	p. 93
Right hemisphere aging	p. 96
Aging and the neuropsychology of long-term memory	p. 100
Frontal contributions to working memory, executive functions, and aging	p. 105
Age-related changes in interhemispheric interactions	p. 108
Closing remarks	p. 109
References	p. 110
Metamemory from a social-cognitive perspective	p. 115
Theory and research on metamemory	p. 116
Interfaces between metamemory and social cognition	p. 120
Future directions	p. 125
References	p. 127
Autobiographical memory and aging	p. 131
Memories from the recent past	p. 132
Memories from early childhood	p. 134
Memories from the remainder of the life span	p. 136
Memories for public events and general knowledge	p. 141
References	p. 145
Aging, circadian arousal patterns, and cognition	p. 151
Age differences in morningness-eveningness tendencies	p. 152
Changes in cognitive performance across the day	p. 154
Conclusion	p. 167
Notes	p. 168
References	p. 168
Language and speech	p. 173
Speech perception and the comprehension of spoken language in adult aging	p. 175
The perception of speech	p. 176
Speech comprehension and working memory	p. 179
Sensory and cognitive change in adult aging	p. 180
Does slowing speech help?	p. 189
Conclusion	p. 191
References	p. 192
Aging and message production and comprehension	p. 197
Changes in message production by older adults	p. 197
Changes in message comprehension by older adults	p. 200
Changes in message production and comprehension due to Alzheimer's disease	p. 202
Changes in message production to older adults	p. 204
Conclusion	p. 207
References	p. 208
Applications	p. 215
Cognitive aging and every day life	p. 217
Health	p. 219
Driving	p. 222
Work	p. 225
Summary	p. 228
References	p. 228
Cognition, aging, and self-reports	p. 233
Respondents' tasks	p. 233
Answering questions about behaviors	p. 241
Answering attitude questions	p. 245
Conclusion	p. 248
References	p. 249
Judgment and decision making across the adult life span: A tutorial review of psychological research	p. 253
Basic judgment and decision-making tasks	p. 255
Conclusion	p. 270
References	p. 270
Author index	p. 275
Subject index	p. 287
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Cognitive Aging: A Primer

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