Summary

UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA RESEARCHERS ARE HELPING SENIOR CITIZENS IMPROVE THEIR MEMORIES THROUGH NEW STRATEGIES DESIGNED TO HELP THEM RECALL MORE.

Source CONUS Archive
Record ID 204160
Story Slug Memory - Recall
Location Gainesville, Florida
Format VOSOT
Date 4/27/2001
Archive Time 12:50
TRT 1:33
Supers Gainesville, Florida Dr. Lise Abrams, UF Psychologist
Video Description SOT OF WOMAN, ELDERLY PERSON BY COMPUTER, ELDERLY PEOPLE IN POOL, SHOT OF ELDERLY PEOPLE.
Description UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA RESEARCHERS ARE HELPING SENIOR CITIZENS IMPROVE THEIR MEMORIES THROUGH NEW STRATEGIES DESIGNED TO HELP THEM RECALL MORE.
Script LEAD: MOST PEOPLE HAVE EXPERIENCED MOMENTS WHEN WORDS SEEMED TRAPPED ON THE TIP-OF-THE-TONGUE. YET AMONG THE ELDERLY...THOSE MEMORY LAPSES CAN SIGNAL CRIPPLING CONCERNS ABOUT THEIR MENTAL HEALTH AND THEIR INDEPENDENCE. (TAKE VO) BUT NOW A UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA STUDY SHOW A SIMPLE STRATEGY CAN HELP IMPROVE MEMORY RETRIEVAL. IN THE LABORATORY ...RESEARCHERS OFFERED TEST SUBJECTS CLUES TO PROMPT THEIR MEMORY OF CERTAIN WORDS. THE CLUES RANGED FROM THE FIRST SYLLABLE OF A PARTICULAR WORD OR SIMILAR-SOUNDING PHRASES. RESULTS SHOW THE STRATEGY CAN IMPROVE RECALL ABILITY ...ESPECIALLY AMONG YOUNGER SENIOR CITIZENS. EXPERTS SAY THE FINDINGS COULD HELP MANY PEOPLE IMPROVE NOT ONLY THEIR MEMORY...BUT THEIR QUALITY OF LIFE. (insert sot) "We're all aware we have these word retrieval failures and we have these tip of the toungue phenomena. The difference for older people is they're very frustrated by it. They feel it happens all the time and though it does increase, certainly I think they're just more attuned to the fact it's occurring than we are." OLDER SENIOR CITIZENS DIDN'T FARE QUITE AS WELL AS THEIR YOUNGER COUNTERPARTS IN THE STUDY...PSYCHOLOGISTS SAY THAT COULD INDICATE A DETERIORATION OF LANGUAGE SKILLS AS PEOPLE MOVE INTO THEIR LATE 70S OR 80S. BUT WHILE RESULTS MAY DIFFER ACROSS AGE GROUPS...EXPERTS SAY MEMORY PROBLEMS DO NOT DISCRIMINATE. (insert sot) "For these tip of the tongues, we get from the most highly-educated people. These retrieval failures are consistent, not just for one group. They apply for all types of older adults of all educational and vocabulary levels." RECAP
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