Knowledge of Memory and Aging Questionnaire”[i]

The correct answers, true or false will be at the end of the questionnaires.

1. “ A picture is worth a thousand words” in that is easier for both younger and older people to remember pictures than to remember words.

2. Older people tend to have more trouble concentrating than younger people. That is, older people are more likely to e distracted by background noises and other happenings around them.)

3. Regardless of how memory is tested, younger adults will remember far more material than older adults.

4. Confusion and memory lapses in older people can sometimes be due to physical conditions that doctors can treat so that these symptoms go away over time.

5. Becoming disoriented (such as getting lost or losing track of what day it is) happens to person with Alzheimer’s Disease, but only in the later stages of the disease.

6. Older people remember to do future planned activities (such as returning a book to the library) better than they remember past actions that they have already completed.

7. Medications that are prescribed by doctors for heart and circulation problems do not affect memory in older adults.

8. Sometimes the effects of intense grief over the loss of a loved one may be mistaken for early Alzheimer’s Disease in older adults.

9. A complete physical exam by a doctor is routinely recommended, it a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s Disease is suspected.

10. Older people tend to remember specific past events in their daily life better than they can remember the meanings of words (vocabulary) and general facts (such as the capital of the United States)

11. Frequent complaining about memory problems is an early sign of Alzheimer’s Disease.

12.  The only way to tell for sure if and individual has Alzheimer’s Disease is to do an autopsy after the person has died.

13.  If an older adult is unable to recall a specific fact (e.g. remembering a person’s name), then providing a cue to prompt or jog the memory is unlikely to help.

14.    When older people are trying to memorize new information, the way to study it does not effect how much the will remember.

15.  If one has lived to be 85 years old and shows no signs of Alzheimer’s Disease, then the chances are very high that this person will live out the rest of his or her life without developing the disease.

16.   For older adults, the ability to remember something is unrelated to the number of other thoughts or issues on their mind when trying to recall this information.

17.   Memory for how to do well-learned things, such as reading a map or riding a bicycle, does not change very much, if at all, in later adulthood.

18.   Signs and symptoms of Alzheimer’s Disease show up gradually and become more noticeable to family members and close friends over time,

19.   When an older adult comes in for a check up, doctors and psychologists can now clearly tell the difference between symptoms of mental health problems and symptoms of physical illness

20.   Immediate memory (such as repeating a telephone number) is about the same for younger and older people, but an older person’s memory for things that happened days, weeks, or month ago is typically worse than that of a younger person.

21  If an older person has gone into another room and cannot remember what he or she intended to do, going back to the place where the thought first came to mind will often help what he or she had intended to do,

22.  Alzheimer’s Disease is the only illness that leads to confusion and memory problems in older adults.

23.   For older people, education, occupation and verbal skills tend to have little influence on their memory

24.    Modern day memory improvement methods that are based on organization (e.g. grouping several items together) and association (e.g. linking new information to what is already known) can actually be traced back to ancient Greek scholars, such as Aristotle and Plato.

25.  Healthy older adults have trouble remembering how to use familiar gadgets (e.g. like a key chain) and appliances (like a can opener).

26.  Dramatic changes in personality and relationships with others may be seen in person who has Alzheimer’s Disease.

27.  Memory training programs are not helpful for older persons, because the memory problems that occur in old age cannot be improved by educational methods.

28.     Lifelong alcoholism may result in severe memory problems in old age. 

                       The Answers:

1.True 2.True 3. False 4.True 5. False 6.True 7. False

8.True 9.True 10.False 11.False 12.True 13.False 14.False

15.False 16.False 17.True 18.True 19.False 20.True 21.True

22.False 23.False 24.True 25.False 26.True 27.False 28.True                    

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[i]  Hawley, K.S. & Cherrry, K.E. (2006).  Knowledge of Memory of Aging in             Adulthood,  Int’L J. Aging and Human Developments, Vol 63 (4) 317-334