PSY 402 Chapter Notes - Chapter 6: Visual Acuity, Mental Chronometry, Long-Term Memory
Document Summary
Chapter 6: basic cognitive functions: information processing, attention, and memory. The data from experiences enter into the brain through various sensory routes, where they progress through a series of stages of analysis. Like a computer, the brain can discard the information, store it for future purposes, or use it instantly. Theories about changes in the overall quality of information processing in adulthood are based on studies of psychomotor speed. Psychomotor speed the amount of time it takes to process a signal, prepare a response, and then execute that response. According to the general slowing hypothesis, the increase in reaction time reflects a general decline of information processing speed within the nervous system of the aging individual. Age- complexity hypothesis proposes that through slowing of central processes in the nervous system, age differences increase as tasks become more complex and processing resources are stretched more and more to their limit.
