Premium
Age‐related change in visual, spatial and verbal memory
Author(s) -
Shaw Rhonda M,
Helmes Edward,
Mitchell David
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
australasian journal on ageing
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.63
H-Index - 34
eISSN - 1741-6612
pISSN - 1440-6381
DOI - 10.1111/j.1741-6612.2006.00134.x
Subject(s) - visual memory , visual short term memory , verbal memory , psychology , cognitive psychology , spatial memory , task (project management) , memory span , working memory , cognition , neuroscience , management , economics
Objectives: To explore the relationship between age and performance on verbal, visual and spatial memory tasks and to examine whether verbal, visual and spatial memory can be measured as separate memory representations.Methods: Sixty‐two participants aged between 18 and 57 years completed a listening span task, a dot memory task and an irregular polygon with articulatory suppression task.Results: Verbal and spatial memory declined with increased age. The relationship between age and visual memory, although negative, was not significant. Age correlated with verbal memory to a greater degree than with visual or spatial memory. The correlations between each of the memory tasks were not significant, suggesting that each task was tapping a distinct type of memory.Conclusions: Verbal, visual and spatial memory appear to be differentially affected by age and should be examined as separate representations.