Effect of age on memory

Effect of age on memory

Lamees Al Alawi and Dabya Asheer

How does age affect memory?

Hypothesis

We predict a negative correlation between age and (short-term) memory. If the age of a person increases, then their memory will decrease. We predict a negative correlation between age and (short-term) memory because aging naturally leads to neuronal and cognitive decline.

Age

Memory

Scientific Reasoning

• With age, the brain naturally begins to shrink
• Shrinkage usually starts around middle age, with the rate increasing more rapidly after age 60
• The parts experience the most volume loss include the hippocampus, which plays a key role in memory
• Older adults tend to have smaller hippocampal volumes, leading to poorer cognitive function, including storing and remembering information

Hippocampus size in aging

Variables

Variables

Variables

Method:

Materials:

• 5 slides, each displaying 10 different words • TV screen to display the slides
 • Stopwatch (to control 30-second intervals) • Papers and pens for participants to write
 • The list of original words
 • Quiet room with no distractions

Method:

Procedure:

1. Show slide with 10 words for 30 seconds
2. After 30 seconds, have participant write down all the words they remember
3. Repeat for 5 slides
4. Collect all papers
5. Count number of correct words remembered
6. Repeat for each age group

Raw Data

Graph 1: Average words remembered by each age

Table 1: Average words remembered by each age

Processed Data

Table 2: The percent of change

Graph 2: The percent of change of words remembered

Data Interpretation:

The data indicates an overall negative correlation between age and memory, though it’s mixed. It is shown that memory improves up to age 17, then begins to decline. On average, memory drops by 30.08% per decade (excluding anomalies), or 11,28% if the 125% increase in the 40-50 age group iss excluded. This unexpected rise could likely be due to individual differences, as the participant was a musician. The overall tred still shows declining memory with age, especially a sharp drop after age 30. This supports research linking memory decline to hippocampal shrinkage, which affects episodic memory and processing speed.

Conclusion:

The hypothesis expected memory to decline with age, the results acquired only partially confirmed this. Teenagers (aged 14 and 16) had the highest recall, suggesting that memory may peak during adolescence. However,a 50-year-old participant scored suprisingly high (80%), indicating that memory does not necessarily decline with age. Individual factors such as health, language, or even experience (such as being a musician) may influence memory. Reserach also supports the idea that playing instruments benefits brain function. Overall, the findings show that memory ablity varies widely and isn’t purely dependant on age.

Evaluation:

This experiment effectively tested how age affects memory in a controlled environment using a simple, consistent procedure for all participants. However, there were several limitations, such as having only one participant per age group, which made it hard to generalize the results. Individual differences like language, health, and education may have influenced performance, and the large age gaps between participants limited the ability to observe clear trends. Some participants may have also felt nervous, which could have impacted their recall. Despite these issues, the experiment still showed a general negative correlation between age and memory, though more participants would improve reliability.

Evaluation & Improvements:

Thank you!