memory paper

Memory is the process of storing and retrieving information in the brain. It has three main functions: recording, storing, and recalling. As you get older, certain parts of your memory start to decline. One of the m ost feared changes to occur with aging is loss of memory. For this paper, I will be focusing on my grandfather. He is 72 years old. The five types of memory that I will be focusing on are autobiographical memory, implicit memory, source memory, procedural memory, and tip of the tongue. Starting with the abilities that decline, the first is source memory. Source memory is recall where information was heard or seen. Source memory has been found to be more affected by aging than item memory, possibly because of declining frontal function among older adults. I have noticed when my grandfather is telling a story he has started to forget where he heard it or saw it. The second is tip of tongue, which is when you forget names of certain things. I have noticed that when he forgets the name of something he gets very frustrated. He will sit there for hours trying to remember. Even when the name does not come to him he will try describing them to whomever he is talking too. He does not give up easily. One of the most fascinating things about the tip-of-the-tongue state is that it demonstrates how sometimes we know that we know something, without actually being able to recall it. Now for the abilities that do not decline, starting with autobiographical memory, which is recalling information for you own past. My grandfather does a lot of recalling information from his past. He can talk for hours about his past. Implicit memory is recalling information acquired unintentionally. Things that we do not purposely try to remember are stored in implicit memory. This kind of memory is both unconscious and unintentional. Personally I think my grandpa is better at this part of memory than I am. Some examples of implicit memory include singing a familiar song, daily habits, and driving a car. Riding a bicycle is another great example. Even after going years without riding one, my grandfather is able to hop on a bike and ride it effortlessly. Procedural memory is a type of long-term memory of how to perform different actions and skills. Procedural memories start to form very early in life as you begin to learn how to walk, talk, eat and play. These memories become so ingrained that they are almost automatic. This is probably what he is best at. He does not use directions for anything. He can put anything and everything together. It amazes me at times. He also plays the accordion very well! The Five Factor Model is a theory intended to capture all the essential characteristics of personality in a set of five broad dispositions. Each disposition has six facets, which leads to a total of 30 personality components. It includes the personality traits of neuroticism, extraversion, openness to experience, agreeableness, and conscientiousness. According to trait theory, the shape of people’s lives is strongly influenced by the nature of their personalities. Studies based on the scales of the Five Factor Model and aging show a high degree of consistency over time in the scores of individuals throughout adulthood. My grandfather has highs and lows in different categories of the Five Factor Model but that is normal. For the conscientiousness model he is well- organized, self- disciplined, reliable, and conscientious and at times he can be careful but also careless. The trait continues to relate to greater weight gains during adulthood. I found this true for my grandfather. He has gained a lot of weight as an adult. He is falls under the high levels of this one and also low levels. Under the extroversion- introversion I would say he falls under the high levels. My grandfather is the most talkative, loving man I have ever met. He goes out of his way to help in any way he can. He is not shy in any way! Even though his English is not that good, he has no problem going up to whoever and starting a conversation with them. Under the agreeableness model I would say that he has his highs and lows. He means well at heart but do him wrong and he can be very mean. But it is rare to see him being mean. My grandfather has changed a lot as he has gotten older. As do most people. At a younger age he used to have a lot of lows on most of all the models. I am glad to see that he has gotten much better with age. I think a lot of it has to do with experience. As he says “you live and you learn” Roger Walsh’s Therapeutic Lifestyle Changes (TLC’s) have few negatives. They are free of stigma and can confer social beliefs. There are eight mentioned in the article. Exercise, diet, medication, recreation, relaxation, time in nature, management stress and relationships. My grandfather’s four strongest TLC’s are time in nature, management stress, relationships, and relaxation. During hunting season he is always going hunting. He looks forward to it every year. He always gets together with a group of friends and that is what they do together to bond and for some fun. My grandfather never lets anything bother him. He told me that he is too old to have stress in his life. I agree with him. He lives a stress free life, which is nice but he has had his fair share of stress at any earlier time in his life. Having a stress free life is good for his health. He has great relationships with everyone in his life. Family is a very important quality to him. He does not like to argue or get into fights with his loved ones. He always ends on a good note. Last but not least relaxation. He is the king of relaxation if I may say so myself. Since he is retired now that is basically what he does all day. He could sleep all day if you let him. As soon as his head hits a pillow he is out like a light. He loves watching television, although at time the television is watching him instead. Now for his four weakest TLC’s are exercise, diet, medication and recreation. I don’t think my grandfather has ever stepped foot into a gym. So exercise is out of the picture. To him there is no such thing as a diet. He is overweight but nothing to extreme. He is not good with remembering to take his medication. He also does not like spending money. So for recreation he doesn’t go anywhere to get away.
Since my grandfather is not originally from America he said he could not think of a historical event but he instead told me about how his life was back in Portugal and why he came to America. Life is Portugal wasn’t terrible but there was no moving forward. You were stuck. He was a farmer there and wanted to better his life hence the reason why he decided to come to America. He made the big move on his own. He started off with nothing and worked his way up. He has worked very hard for everything he has today. He is very proud of his accomplishments and the person he has become. There were many days were he struggles to put food on the table but he always made it through well. I admire him so never giving up. Socioemotional selectivity theory proposes that throughout adulthood, people structure the nature and range of their relationships to maximize gains and minimize risks. According to the theory, people look for different rewards from their interactions with others as they approach the later years of their lives. This theory proposes that there are two types of functions served by interpersonal relationships. One is an informational function. Relationships that serve this function provide you with important knowledge that you would not otherwise have. The second role of relations with others is emotional. Relationships that serve this function contribute to your sense of well-being. Whether you are feeling good or bad on a given day often depends on whether the people close to you are pleases displeased with you. Socioemotional selectivity theory proposes that as people grow older, they become more focused on the emotional functions of relationships and less interested in the informational function. This shift, according to the theory, occurs as people become sensitive to the inevitable ending of their lives and recognize that they are “running out of time”. I would say that yes to my grandfather’s social networks changing the way Socioemotional selectivity theory would predict. Like I said family is a very important quality to my grandfather. He loves being surrounded by all of us and tries to do anything he can to make sure he has done everything possible for his family.