1

Module code: HRPYC81

Research report for PROJECT 4813

Assignment number 62 (unique no:663697)

Title of study: The influence of age on short-term memory performance

Surname: Smith Initials: T. J

Student number: 14280396

Examination period: October 2021

14280396 HRPYC81 Assignment 62 Project 4813(663697)

CONTENTS
14280396 HRPYC81 Assignment 62 Project 4813(663697)

A quantitative study of the influence of age on short-term memory performance

ABSTRACT

The quantitative study would investigate the research problem, namely the potential impact
of age on short-term memory performance. Three key research questions will be addressed by
investigating whether older adults perform poorly in short-term memory tasks when
compared to younger adults, if there is evidence of memory decline in the older group and
whether different age groups rely on different techniques in order to recall information. To do
this, two age groups (ages 20-40 and 50-70) will be tested on two memory tasks containing
digits and words which they will need to recall to the best of their ability. Regarding the
sample strategy, the participants will be taken from a convenience sample due to the
restrictions of the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, the test-takers will be my family
members, friends, neighbours and university colleagues. The participants’ short-term memory
capabilities will be tested using first the Word Span Task and then the Digit Span Task. I, the
researcher, would real aloud the stimuli in the word test and upon reaching the end of the list,
instruct the participant to write down what they could recall, in no particular order. Once
completed, the Digit Span Task would begin in a similar manner however the order would be
important in this test. I would read out loud a sequence of numbers and the participant would
have to write down the length of digits that they could recall, in order. The data will be
collected in the form of data entry sheets pertaining to the Word Span Task and Digit Span
Task answers which will then be entered into Microsoft Excel for storage and analysis
purposes. The researcher will use single factor ANOVA testing to analyse and compare the
mean scores that the two groups acquired from the memory tasks. I as the researcher would
closely analyse the results of both groups for evidence of memory enhancement methods
such as recency or primacy effects and the “chunking” method. I anticipate that there would
be an age-related difference between the two groups' performances on the memory tasks,
with the younger group outperforming the older group, as this conclusion would correlate
with the findings of present research relating to age and memory fun. Should the analysis of
results uncover significant statistical differences between the performances of the younger
14280396 HRPYC81 Assignment 62 Project 4813(663697)

and older group, the hypothesis that age affects short-term memory performance will be
accepted.

The results showed no significant differences between the groups’ performances which
contradicts current research on human memory and aging. It was found that, when the test
taker used it, utilising a memory improvement method such as ‘chunking’ improved
performance levels in both groups. In this study it was clear that the older group of
participants relied on this recall method more than the younger group. This is evidence that
supports the idea that human memory is exceptionally complex and multi-faceted and there
are indeed differences in brain functioning and memory performance between different age
groups. More research and exploration are needed in this area to ascertain the impact such
differences would have outside of a controlled test experiment environment.

Keywords: short-term memory, chunking, primacy and recency effects, age,

quantitative study
14280396 HRPYC81 Assignment 62 Project 4813(663697)

1. Introduction
This report aims to investigate whether age influences cognitive processes and memory by
conducting a memory experiment on two age groups. This is the research problem- the
question of whether age has an effect on short term memory performance. I will utilise recent
literature and research accumulated on memory and aging in biological psychology,
neuroscience, and cognitive psychology. By conducting a memory experiment relating to the
recollection of stimuli involving digits and words, I will ascertain whether there are
differences in short-term memory performance of healthy subjects from two separate age
groups. Understanding the relationship between aging and human memory is important
because research in this area has encouraged methods designed to help senior members of the
population acclimate to typical age-related changes. Another explanation for why we need to
explore aging and memory is that obtaining knowledge regarding memory assists scientists
with recognizing and knowing the differences between typical symptoms of age and the
indications of pathology or debilitating cognitive decline (Goldstein, 2011). This qualification
is significant for neuroscientists so that efficient treatment for dementia can be created and
implemented.
14280396 HRPYC81 Assignment 62 Project 4813(663697)

2. Literature review
There is a large expanse of theoretical knowledge about human memory and aging.
That being said, memory is a complex phenomenon which researchers still don’t fully
understand, at least on a physiological level. In order to understand memory, it is
important to learn about historical and present research and to critically engage with
the findings. In this literature review I will briefly provide information regarding
biological, neuroscientific, and cognitive research on memory. I will also discuss the
three types of memory before engaging with the topic of this particular study- the
influence of age on memory. This review will finally lead to this study’s research
problem and resulting research questions.

2.5 Neuroscientific, cognitive and biological research

More than a century of scientific studies revolving around memory in the fields of
psychology, biology, or neuroscience have not completely agreed upon a unified
categorization of memory, especially in terms of its functions and mechanisms.

What is important to investigate is what factors influence memory, and the age-related
changes that occur to memory performance.

According to those in favor of the biological perspective, a decline in memory

performance may be attributed to slowed processing speed in the human mind, much
like the malfunctioning software within an aged computer. This decline in processing
speed accelerates loss of memory in healthy, older adults and lessens the availability
of acetylcholine which is the most essential neurotransmitter related to memory
functions (Braverman,2011). According to Hammond (2019), a lack of acetylcholine
can be associated with neurological disorders such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.

Furthermore, another important neurotransmitter known as GABA plays a significant

role in memory processes- changed levels of GABA have been found in patients
14280396 HRPYC81 Assignment 62 Project 4813(663697)

suffering from neurological disorders, mood disorders and those merely experiencing
natural, or pure, aging (Millar, 2019).

Biochemist Christian de Vuve introduced the term “autophagy” to define the

important process whereby cellular matter (organelles and proteins) in the brain are
transported via vesicles to the lysosome, which is an organelle containing digestive
enzymes (Stachowiak,Al Mamun, Tzvetkov, Takeda, Atanasov, Bergantin,
AbdelDaim, & Stankiewicz, 2018). Research has shown that there is a strong link
between autophagy processes and neurological disorders.

Lifestyle and health have also been found to have a significant impact on memory.
Diabetes, smoking, depression, mental inactivity, a sedentary lifestyle and unhealthy
eating are associated with “increased risk of cognitive decline, AD, or both” whilst
“cognitive, social and intellectual activity jointly with higher education and
occupational attainment” have resulted in lessening cognitive deterioration due to
increased cognitive reserve, “the capacity of the brain to resist the effects of
neuropathological damage” (Crous-Bou, Minguillon & Gramunt, 2017). With this
information in mind, it will be important to cancel out any mitigating risk factors in
the research report by devising a carefully planned, valid and reliable sample strategy
which considers lifestyle factors which may influence performance in recall tasks,
skewing the accuracy of results.

A vitamin B12 deficiency has also been linked to neurological disorders in adults
over the age of 60 however it is not irreversible (Hereema, 2019).

It may be possible that through combining such primary prevention strategies with
autophagy-inducing drugs or natural enhancers, Alzheimer’s Disease will lessen
significantly in prevalence.

1.3 Short-term memory, working memory, and long-term memory

According to Kalat(2019), Hebb suggested that short-term memory may be stored

through a circuit whereby neuron A excites neuron B which excites neuron C which then
14280396 HRPYC81 Assignment 62 Project 4813(663697)

re-excites neuron A, and so forth. Significant evidence existed to support Hebb’s ideas
mainly being the difference in memory capacity, the necessity for rehearsal and the fact
that while there can be no reclaiming of lost information from short-term memory, a
seemingly lost memory from long-term memory may be reclaimed through hints (Kalat,
2019).Hebb believed that storing short-term memories for a certain period would always
result in those memories being consolidated into long-term memory storage. This was
later found to be an inaccurate belief because simply retaining short -term memory does
not always result in automatic, permanent consolidation. The time required for the
consolidation process to take place varies infinitely depending on the content of the
memory and how important the memory-holder deems it to be.

For example, memorising a piece of information that a person may find dull and
unimportant may take a lot of rehearsal to consolidate into long-term storage however
emotionally significant memories, known as ‘flashbulb memories’ form extremely
quickly and often the individual will starkly remember the emotionally charged event as
well as the events preceding and directly following it (Kalat, 2019).

According to Cowan, working memory may be conceptualised as “short-term storage

component with a capacity limit that is heavily dependent on attention and other central
executive processes that make use of stored information or that interact with long-term
memory” memory (Jia,Ismafairus & Malin, 2018). Working memory may be described
using the multi-component working memory model, designed by Baddeley and
Hitch(Kalat,2019).

There are 4 categorisations of long-term memory, namely episodic, semantic,

Pavlovian and procedural memory (Jia, et al, 2018). It is now widely

accepted that long-term memory is indeed an inextricable and undeniable part of

human memory and may be considered “a huge reserve of knowledge about past

events” , according to Jia et al(2018).

14280396 HRPYC81 Assignment 62 Project 4813(663697)

1.3.1 The relationship between working memory and short-term memory

American psychologist George Miller first introduced the term “working memory” (the way
information is stored while working with it) to replace the concept of short-term memory (Jia,
et al, 2018). Although the terms working memory and short-term memory are often confused,
they are two very different processes. Whilst with STM a certain amount of data can be held
in storage for a brief period of time, working memory involves the storage and manipulation
of information in order for people to be able to continue with their daily functioning (Revlin,
2012).

1.4 The effects of age on memory

Whilst ageing may be accompanied with growing wisdom, it also unfortunately is

accompanied by cognitive decline and memory loss. This is not usually accompanied by

lower-level functioning on a day-to-day basis, possibly due to various factors such as fewer

instances requiring the individual to perform at maximum functioning level or a reliance on

gained knowledge that do not decline with age instead of novel problem solving (Salthouse,

2012).

Cross-sectional behavioural research discovered rapid deterioration with age in the ability to

form new episodic memories, slowed information processing and declining ability to carry
out executive processes (Hedden & Gabrieli, 2004).

Longitudinal studies indicate cognitive declines occur after the age of 60. Semantic memory

and short-term memory remain mostly consistent across the adult lifespan, with declines

occurring only very late in life (Hedden & Gabrieli, 2004).

14280396 HRPYC81 Assignment 62 Project 4813(663697)

“The differential pattern of age-related changes in the prefrontal cortex and the hippocampus

indicates a two-component model of cognitive ageing, with normal ageing primarily affecting

prefrontal areas, and pathological ageing affecting medial temporal regions” (Jia, Ismafairus

& Malin, 2018). An example of pathological ageing would be neurodegenerative disorders

such as Alzheimer’s Disease.

Alzheimer’s disease is the most common cause of dementia in the elderly (Steele, Fan,

Kelahmetoglu, Tian & Bustos, 2013). It is the severe and progressive decline of cognitive

abilities and “formation of senile plaques, composed mainly of amyloid β (Aβ), and

neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs), composed of tau protein, in the hippocampus and cortex of

afflicted humans”. “In brains of AD patients, the metabolism of Aβ is dysregulated, which

leads to the accumulation and aggregation of Aβ. Metabolism of Aβ and tau proteins is

crucially influenced by autophagy” (Steele, Fan, Kelahmetoglu, Tian & Bustos, 2013). This

clearly points to a crucial clue as to what may treat or even cure Alzheimer’s Disease

eventually, with further future research and experimentation.

1.5 Research problem

The research problem of this particular report pertains to whether age has any impact on the
short-term memory performance of older adults as compared to younger adults. Although it is
true that ageing can have devastating effects on memory performance and daily functioning,
it is not necessarily all bad news. Behavioural studies have displayed evidence that supports
the idea that age-related changes result in both the deterioration and preservation of “selective
cognitive abilities” (Goh & Park,2009). According to Goh et al (2009), age results in greater
14280396 HRPYC81 Assignment 62 Project 4813(663697)

neuroplasticity to alleviate the negative accompanying symptoms. This leads me to the

question: “Does age have a significant impact on short term memory and if so, is it good or
bad?”

1.5.1 Research questions

After conducting a thorough literature review based on recent research findings relating to
human memory, the following research questions were formed:

1) Do older adults perform poorly in comparison to younger adults when completing short
term memory tasks?
2) Does age have a significant impact on short term memory and if so, is it good or bad?
3) Do the different age groups utilise different methods in order to recall information?

2.5.2 Research objectives

Regarding what I wish to achieve as the researcher in this study, I aim to investigate the
possibility of a link between aging and deteriorated short-term memory performance
through testing utilising Word Span Tasks and Digit Span Tasks. I will compare the
average scores of two age groups in order to find any possible statistical differences. My
objectives are to answer my research questions by finding evidence, if any, of cognitive
decline in older adults and assessing whether younger participants perform better in
memory recall test environments. I also aim to reach a conclusion regarding the short-
term memory capabilities of different age groups through engaging with both theoretical
and empirical knowledge. Lastly, my research objective is to observe closely the manner
in which different age groups recall information.

3. Methodology

The methodology used in this study was carefully constructed in order to ensure reliability
and validity of the results. Construct validity was achieved by using recall tests involving
words and digits as these are suitable means for testing the relationship between variables
14280396 HRPYC81 Assignment 62 Project 4813(663697)

such as aging and memory performance. Face validity was achieved because the structure and
content of the test suited the aim of the study. Data was collected through the usage of
stimuli sheets which were marked off with an ‘X’ when or if errors occurred during the recall
testing process. Additionally, Microsoft Excel was utilised to store and analyse all relevant
data. It should be noted that some of the interviews between researcher and participant took
place through Skype or a Whatsapp Video Call. Participants had to write down their answers
in a legible manner and then take a picture of their answers for me to then check off the
stimuli sheet before converting the results into a typed data sheet on Excel and Word.
Regarding the overall reliability of the methods used and the study as a whole, I would
suggest that this experiment was lacking in reliability due to the reasons I listed under the
heading “limitations”.

2.1 Sampling
I recruited 15 participants from an age group of 20 to 40 years and another 15 participants
within the 50-70 age bracket. I used a convenience sample therefore the subjects were my
family members, friends, neighbours, and university colleagues. In order to control any
confounding variables, I made sure to only interview people who were either presently
employed or studying as a student, as such individuals would be accustomed to test
environments and actively used their short-term memory as part of their everyday lives. This
decision was based on my research findings from an article which portrayed evidence that
lifestyle factors influence short-term memory . Diabetes, smoking, depression, mental
inactivity, a sedentary lifestyle and unhealthy eating are associated with “increased risk of
cognitive decline, AD, or both” whilst “cognitive, social and intellectual activity jointly with
higher education and occupational attainment” have resulted in lessening cognitive
deterioration due to increased cognitive reserve, “the capacity of the brain to resist the effects
of neuropathological damage” (Crous-Bou, Minguillon & Gramunt, 2017).

Furthermore, all participants were native English speakers and South African citizens. None
of the subjects had, to their knowledge, any severe health problems or cognitive disabilities
which would hinder their performance in the tests. In order to ensure a representative sample
14280396 HRPYC81 Assignment 62 Project 4813(663697)

was obtained, I also tried to make sure that there was a relatively even division of males and
females in the groups (for example, 7 males and 8 females per group, or vice versa). Each
test-taker was given a consent form to sign before participating.

3.1 Materials

Samples of the data entry sheet, consent form and the participants’ stimuli sheets have been
attached in the appendix.
The materials used in this research report and study included tutorial letter 103 with the
stimuli contained within. I also used the consent form as provided by UNISA.
Pens and paper were used during the tests. I made use of ANOVA in order to analyse the
results and I utilised a data entry sheet to contain all data in Microsoft Excel.

3.2 Procedure
It should be noted that, prior to the test beginning, the participant was informed as to the
purposes of the study and they were given a consent form to complete. After all other ethical
considerations had been carried out, I gave the participant a pen and paper(or requested they
use their own in the case of virtual meetings), stating that I was going to read the stimuli
aloud, and when I signalled for them to start, they had to write as many words or digits as
they could recall. To ensure the data was kept safely, ethically and professionally, I would
capture the data in a password-locked spreadsheet. However, it should be noted that for the
purposes of this study, only the participants’ age and gender will be needed so there will be
total anonymity.

I interviewed each participant individually, in a quiet location. For those participants who I
interviewed online due to COVID-safety restrictions, I attempted to ensure they were in as
undisturbed a location as I could however my control over the environment was limited. I
clarified that the aim of the study was to determine how well each subject could recall two
different types of stimuli (words and then digits) after I had read them out loud.
14280396 HRPYC81 Assignment 62 Project 4813(663697)

I informed the participants that they could take as much time as needed to write down what
they could recall, in order to ensure they did not feel rushed because anxiety is linked to poor
short-term memory performance according to recent research (Lukasik, Otto, Anna, Minna &
Matti, 2019) and I wanted to ensure all risk factors were cancelled out in order to preserve the
reliability and accuracy of results. They were also encouraged to ask questions, if they had
any, before commencing.

Firstly, I presented the words to the test-taker by reading them aloud. The participant was
assured that they did not need to remember the exact order, but they should aim to recall as
many words as they possibly could, as this is a free recall experiment. I proceeded to read
aloud each word, pausing slightly (2 seconds) between words. Once complete, I waited 10
seconds and then instructed the participant to begin writing down as many words as they
could recall. In the data entry sheet, I made notes regarding how many words were correctly
and incorrectly (incorrect if they listed a word which was not read aloud by myself) listed.

Secondly, I presented the digit task by reading the digits out loud. I informed the participant
that in this task they needed to remember as many digits as possible, but the digits should be
recalled in the order in which they were read. I read the number sequence out loud, and then
waited 5 seconds before instructing the participant to write down what they recalled. Once
the participant signalled, they were ready, I proceeded to read out the next number sequence.
I continued in this way until they made an error. I then recorded into the data entry sheet the
number of digits recalled correctly up until the error.

I conducted the experiment in this manner with each participant until all 30 had been tested in
both memory tasks. Once completed, I entered the results in an excel sheet to be analysed at a
later stage.
14280396 HRPYC81 Assignment 62 Project 4813(663697)

3.3 Ethics
When conducting my research I made sure to adhere to ethical principles. The methods which
I used to gather empirical information were not harmful to the participants physically or
psychologically. The participants were treated with dignity and respect for privacy.
Participants were informed that they would be free to withdraw from the study at any stage. I
obtained informed consent from all participants and explained to each subject that the test
was not an individual memory test. I explained that I was solely interested in group memory
recall differences of two distinct age groups relating to verbal and numerical data.

I also explained to each participant that I was a Psychology Honours student conducting a
memory experiment for my research module at the University of South Africa and that I
would complete this experiment using participants from two age groups in an effort to
ascertain whether age influences short-term memory performance. I ensured that they knew
and comprehended the consent form information, the purposes of the study, and what they
needed to do in the study. I informed them that they would remain completely anonymous as
all I needed was their age and gender. Before the testing began, I asked the participant if they
were ready, if they felt comfortable, and if their participation was completely voluntary.

4. Data Analysis

As this was a quantitative study I would have utilised t-tests for independent samples to
compare the means scores that the two groups obtained on both memory tasks. However, as I
had access to Microsoft Excel software, I used analysis of variance (ANOVA) instead. This is
a justifiable and appropriate statistical test to use in this case because it is typically used to
study the difference in means scores between two or more groups (in this case, the younger
group and older group), involving an independent variable (in this case, age) and a dependent
variable which was, in this case, STM performance (“Analysis of Variance,” n.d.).
14280396 HRPYC81 Assignment 62 Project 4813(663697)

Regarding the words recall test I compared both the correct and incorrect recalls whilst also
comparing the length of correctly recalled digits in order to arrive at an accurate data
analysis. The alpha value used was 0.01 and the degree of freedom was 28. Due to the fact
that the hypotheses were directional meaning one group’s means will be either bigger or
smaller than the other group’s (Wagner et al, 2012) , a single factor ANOVA test was used,
and three different tests were conducted for each variable.

4.5 Hypotheses

I had several hypotheses regarding the results of the recall tests:

Where µ1 is the symbol for the means of Group A (the younger group) whilst µ2 symbolises
the means for Group B (older group).

A) Hypothesis 1

The average amount of false recollections by Group A will be lower than the number of false
recollections by Group B.

H0 : µ1= µ2

H1 : µ1< µ2

B) Hypothesis 2

The number of words correctly recalled by Group A will be more than the number of correct
recollections by Group B.

H0 : µ1= µ2

H1 : µ1> µ2

C) Hypothesis 3

The average length of digits recalled by Group A will be greater than that of Group B.

H0 : µ1= µ2
14280396 HRPYC81 Assignment 62 Project 4813(663697)

H1 : µ1> µ2

4.6 Word Span Task

In order to explore the effects of memory enhancement methods such as chunking (grouping
of words into categories), I divided both age groups into those with evidence of chunking and
those without. Evidence of chunking included any test results that tended to have
recollections of words consecutively related to a certain category, such as fruit for example.

I also wanted to consider the effects of primacy (improved recall of items from the beginning
of the list) and recency (improved recall of items from the end of the list) in my analysis, so I
set my groups into three categories for the word recall test results using a pie chart. The first
category was the recency group, the second included the primacy group and the third one
involved those participants whose results were neutral (neither showing primacy effects nor
recency effects). Those belonging to the primacy group predominantly recalled words from
the beginning of the stimuli list whilst those participants who mostly remembered stimuli
from the end of the list were categorised as the recency group. Test-takers who portrayed no
predominance towards recency or primacy were part of the neutral group. See pie charts
under the heading ‘results’.

4.7 Digit Span Task

Only the length of correctly recalled digits was analysed using the ANOVA one- tail testing
method. To determine the critical value for t, the degree of freedom(28) was considered along
with the alpha (0.01).

Validity and reliability

To ensure the proposed data collection, code and analysis methodologies was valid, internal
validity of measures should be investigated.
14280396 HRPYC81 Assignment 62 Project 4813(663697)

The content used in the stimuli recall tasks were appropriate to the research question because
they pertained to the concept of memory and aging by testing two different age groups’ short-
term memory capacity, thereby giving the study face validity.

The variables selected were considered appropriate as the variables, age, and short-term
memory performance, directly link to the research problem, thereby fulfilling the requirement
of criterion validity. External validity is achieved by ensuring the findings of the research
report can be applicable to different contexts(generalized) which will be due to the sample
strategy used. However, due to the reasons listed under “sampling-limitations”, external
validity may not be achieved for this report. Construct validity will be obtained in this study
by ensuring the constructs selected will be convergent with each other.

I as the researcher demonstrated complete objectivity by remaining neutral, scientifically

objective, and unbiased by my hypotheses throughout the process.

To ensure the data was kept safely, ethically, and professionally, I captured the data in a
password-locked spreadsheet. However, it should be noted that for the purposes of this study,
only the participants’ age and gender were needed so there was total anonymity maintained
throughout the research process.

5. Results
I used the participants’ results by entering them into an excel worksheet and completing the
ANOVA test. Thirty individuals in total were tested(n=30) which was then divided into
groups of 2 (n 15) in which those aged 20-40 and those aged 50-70 were separated in order to
determine the effects of age on STM performance. The groups’ means results were then
compared in order to ascertain whether there were statistical deviations. The level of
significance(a) had to be 0.01.

Three types of results were used in this analysis namely the number of words correctly
recalled(the differences between results of the age groups), the amount of false
recollections(differences between results of age groups) and the length of digits recalled
before the participant made a mistake(difference between groups’ results).

The minimum age in this study was 20 whilst the maximum age was 68. The mean age of
Group A(20-40) was 32.46 years and the mean for Group B(50-70) was 61.7 years. Group A
14280396 HRPYC81 Assignment 62 Project 4813(663697)

was comprised of 8 females and 7 males. Group B was comprised of 7 females and 8 males.
There was a total of 30 participants in this study-15 males and 15 females.

5.5 Correctly Recalled Words- there were statistical differences

Age bracket 20-40 50-70

Mean 10.13333 7.5
Standard deviation 2.8572 3.0942

The N value was 15 per group.

“Degrees of freedom” calculated was 28.
A=0.01
F=5.6556
P=0.0234556783908
From the above information as per the table results it is clear that Group A and B’s means do
not statistically differ at p > 0.01. We shall therefore fail to reject the null hypothesis.

5.6 Falsely recalled words – not significantly different

Age bracket 20-40 50-70

Mean 1 1.3534
Standard deviation 1.0873 2.1064

A= 0.01

F=0.74

P= 0.3878691116

In this case the means are not significant different, and p> alpha therefore we fail to reject the
null hypothesis.

H0 : µ1= µ2
14280396 HRPYC81 Assignment 62 Project 4813(663697)

4.3 Length of digits correctly recalled- no significant deviation

Age bracket 20-40 50-70

Standard deviation 1.8889 1.1231
Mean 7.4 5.3

N value per age group :15

d.o.f: 28
F value: 10
P: 0.002395637920482397
A: 0.01
The p value<0.01 therefore we reject the null hypothesis.

5.7 Primacy and recency charts

GROUP A (20-40)

Neutral Primacy Recency

14280396 HRPYC81 Assignment 62 Project 4813(663697)

GROUP B(50-70)

Neutral Primacy Recency

From these results it is clear that the younger group relies on primacy and
recency(predominantly recency effects) in order to recall information while Group B does not
show such a large reliance on primacy and recency effects(most of the results showed no
predominance to either primacy or recency).

5.8 Chunking pie charts

GROUP B

neutral chunking
14280396 HRPYC81 Assignment 62 Project 4813(663697)

GROUP A

neutral chunking

Group A showed less of a tendency to use chunking in order to recall information while
Group B displayed a predominant reliance on chunking methods. It is of interest to note that
the younger group tended to remember words related to the category of emotions such as
happiness or sorrow whilst Group B tended to recall words related to the category of objects
such as desk or ship.

4.5 Discussion
It is difficult to state whether the study’s results clearly answer the question at hand,
regarding the relationship between aging and the performance of short-term memory. This is
because no statistical or significant differences were portrayed when I compared the
performances of the younger group, with that of the older group. The only markedly
noticeable trend that emerged from the data analysis and results was the difference in
memory techniques, and the types of information typically recalled.

There was a fair amount of variation in both groups’ results. In Group A(20-40), some
participants correctly recalled only 5 words while the highest number of words remembered
was 18. In Group B, the lowest number of correctly recalled words was 3 with the highest
being 13. As you may notice, the younger group did perform marginally better than the older
group if you compare the extremes.
14280396 HRPYC81 Assignment 62 Project 4813(663697)

False recollections occurred in both Group A and B, typically in the form of words not
provided in the list, but closely related to the original stimuli either in meaning or sound. For
example, participants would hear the word “ship” yet write “sheep” or hear “happiness” yet
write joy. Particularly, the younger group made false recollections such as the examples
mentioned. The older group participants occasionally made false recollections using words
completely unrelated to the stimuli read out loud. This may indicate cognitive decline in the
older adults but cannot be used as accurate, determining evidence. More in-depth
experimentation is needed to investigate this phenomenon.

During the testing utilising the digits task sheet, it was noticeable that the younger group
performed better than the older group because they could typically remember longer lengths
of digits. This again may indicate cognitive decline in older adults however there is not strong
enough evidence to support such a statement. It may be used as motive to warrant further
research into the matter.

Whereas Group A displayed a definitive preference for using primacy and, predominantly,
recency effects in order to recall information(such as digits and words as in this scenario), it
was clear that Group B mostly used the “chunking” recall technique when remembering the
information from the stimuli data sheet. Furthermore, the different age groups remembered
different categories- the younger group focussed on emotions whilst the older group tended to
remember categories related to inanimate objects. These differences may perhaps be a result
of growing up in different societal eras where different life experiences shaped the two age
groups in various different ways.

Further research should be done to investigate why there appears to be a difference in the
techniques used to remember information, and a tendency to focus on different categories.
That being said, based on the empirical observations and evidence provided by this study it
may be said that age does not significantly effect the functioning of short-term memory, and
that adults aged 20-40 do not perform better than older adults in short term memory tasks.

Naturally, this contrasts with most theoretical knowledge. That being said, longitudinal
studies indicate cognitive declines occur after the age of 60. Semantic memory and short-term
memory remain mostly consistent across the adult lifespan, with decline occurring only very
late in life (Hedden & Gabrieli, 2004). The evidence from these tests supports this finding as
short-term memory processes of Group B were not drastically different, meaning the STM
performance of older adults in the sample had indeed remained consistent. As discussed in
the literature review, there is undisputable evidence which emphasises that age does indeed
negatively impact human memory. I believe this contradiction may be due to the limitations
of this study such as limited resources, the effects of the pandemic, the small sample size
which cannot offer an accurate representation of diverse populations. Additionally, it should
14280396 HRPYC81 Assignment 62 Project 4813(663697)

be noted that these results were obtained from a controlled test environment. More research
should be done on a higher level to engage with the concept of the influences of age on
memory in more realistic, everyday settings. The results of this study cannot be used to make
inferences about the population as a whole, and people’s functioning on a day-to-day basis.

Using the results obtained in order to answer my research questions, firstly I would state that
no, older adults do not perform poorly in comparison to younger adults when completing
short term memory tasks. In order to answer my second research question, I would state that
age appears to have a slight impact on the methods used to recall information but no, it does
not have a significant impact on short term memory, either good or bad, judging from this
empirical evidence. Do the different age groups utilise different methods in order to recall
information? Yes, they do. Older adults appeared to rely more on chunking whilst the
younger group relied more on primacy and recency effects.

4.6Limitations
The majority of interviews were conducted online due to the pandemic which meant that, at
times, the environment was very noisy and distracting (as it was something I could not have
control over), and I suspect that this affected the concentration of the participants which
altered the accuracy of their recall test results. Furthermore, it should be noted that this study
took place under controlled test environment circumstances. Therefore the subsequent results
of this study cannot be used as “blanket statement” evidence for the influence of age on the
performance of short-term memory in real-life scenarios.

I also believe that many of the participants from both the young and older group were under
a large amount of stress which may be attributed to the unprecedent and anxiety-inducing
pandemic. These personal setbacks and private states of mind may have negatively
influenced the test-takers’ performance on the recall tasks. Furthermore, in-depth research
should be conducted to assess the effects of age on memory outside of a controlled test
environment. I also cannot claim that this is an accurate representative sample of the
population as a whole, due to limited resources and a tiny sample size. Results may thus be
skewed due to these limitations mentioned.

Conclusion
The aim of this research study was to determine if there is a significant difference between
two groups of different age brackets,20-40 years, and 50-70 years, in order to gain insight
into the effects that normal aging has on short-term memory functions. This aim has been
achieved to some extent. I would caution that one cannot make accurate inferences of a
diverse population from this study. The conclusion from this study is that while there are
14280396 HRPYC81 Assignment 62 Project 4813(663697)

differences in the ways in which different age groups recall information, the differences were
simply not significant enough to make inferences that younger individuals will perform better
in STM tasks than older individuals. To answer the research problem, based on these
empirical results taken from this quantitative study, age does not have a significant impact on
short term memory.
14280396 HRPYC81 Assignment 62 Project 4813(663697)

LIST OF REFERENCES

Analysis of variance (ANOVA). (n.d.). In APA dictionary of psychology. Retrieved from

https://dictionary.apa.org/analysis-of-variance

Aben, B., Stapert, S. & Blokland, A. (2012). About the distinction between working memory
and short-term memory. Frontiers in Psychology, 3.
https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2012.00301

Crous-Bou, M., Minguillón, C., Gramunt, N. et al. (2017). Alzheimer’s disease prevention:
from risk factors to early intervention. Alzheimer's Research & Therapy, 9(71), pp. 1-9.
https://doi.org/10.1186/s13195-017-0297-z

Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience, 10(4), pp. 1-18. DOI:10.3389/fnagi.2018.00004

Goh, J. O., & Park, D. C. (2009). Neuroplasticity and cognitive aging: the scaffolding
theory of aging and cognition. Restorative neurology and neuroscience, 27(5), 391–
403. https://doi.org/10.3233/RNN-2009-0493

Goldstein, E. (2010). Cognitive psychology: Connecting mind, research and everyday

experience: Nelson Education.

Hedden, T., & Gabriel, J. (2004). Insights into the aging mind: A view from cognitive
neuroscience. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 5: 87-96.

Jia, C. W., Ismafairus, A.H.A., & Malin, A.J. (2018). Working memory from the
psychological and neurosciences perspectives: a review. Frontiers in Psychology, 9. Doi:
10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00401

Jones, G. (2012). Why chunking should be considered as an explanation for developmental

14280396 HRPYC81 Assignment 62 Project 4813(663697)

change before shortterm memory capacity and processing speed. Frontiers in Psychology, 3.

Kalat, J.W. (2019). Learning, memory and intelligence. Biological psychology (13th ed., pp.
404-405). Cengage.

Goh, J. O., & Park, D. C. (2009). Neuroplasticity and cognitive aging: the scaffolding
theory of aging and cognition. Restorative neurology and neuroscience, 27(5), 391–
403. https://doi.org/10.3233/RNN-2009-0493

Lukasik, K. M., Otto, W., Anna, S., Minna, L. & Matti, L. (2019). The Relationship of
Anxiety and Stress with Working Memory Performance in a Large Non-depressed Sample.
Frontiers in Psychology, 10, 1-4. Retrieved October 09, 2021, from
https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00004

MacGill, M. (2016, April 16). Alzheimer's Disease: Causes, Symptoms and Treatments.
Retrieved September 7, 2021, from Medical News Today:
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/159442.php#risk_factors

Millar, Abi. (2019)“Using GABA-Targetting Drugs to Reverse Memory Loss.”

Pharmaceutical Technology, www.pharmaceutical-technology.com/features/memoryloss-
drugs

NIH National Institute on Aging. (2015, January 22).Global Health and Aging. Accessed on
September 29, 2020, from U.S. Department of Health & Human Services

Revlin, R. (2012). Cognition: Theory and practice: Palgrave Macmillan.

Salthouse, T. (2012). Consequences of age-related cognitive declines. Annual review of

psychology, 63, pp. 201–226. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-psych-120710-100328
14280396 HRPYC81 Assignment 62 Project 4813(663697)

Tutorial Letter 103, HRPYC81 (2021). Department of Psychology, University of

South Africa, Pretoria.
14280396 HRPYC81 Assignment 62 Project 4813(663697)

APPENDIX
a) Stimuli sheet

b) Electronic summary of results

14280396 HRPYC81 Assignment 62 Project 4813(663697)

Participant Group Gender Age Words Words Length of

number correctly falsely digits
recalled recalled recalled
1 A F 22 12 5 9
2 A M 38 9 0 12
3 A F 27 11 3 10
4 A F 29 7 1 4
5 A M 30 12 1 6
6 A F 20 10 4 4
7 A F 21 12 0 5
8 A M 38 11 2 8
9 A M 34 10 0 6
10 A F 29 5 0 8
11 A M 26 14 3 11
12 A F 23 18 2 7
13 A M 25 9 0 5
14 A F 39 11 0 4
15 A M 21 7 1 8
16 B F 54 6 0 6
17 B F 58 11 8 5
18 B M 51 3 2 6
19 B F 60 4 0 4
20 B M 65 6 4 4
21 B F 52 6 1 5
22 B M 69 12 3 6
23 B F 63 8 0 5
24 B F 58 10 1 7
25 B M 50 9 0 8
26 B F 64 13 2 5
27 B M 53 5 1 5
28 B M 67 6 1 4
29 B F 62 8 0 6
30 B F 59 10 0 4
14280396 HRPYC81 Assignment 62 Project 4813(663697)

c) Consent form
14280396 HRPYC81 Assignment 62 Project 4813(663697)

Plagiarism Declaration

Tiffany Jane Smith student number 14280396

T.J.S 2021/10/05