Aging and verbal memory -an experimental study using structured and non-structured word lists-

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  • Takeda Kazuya
    Department of Rehabilitation, Kaneda Hospital
  • Nakamura Hikaru
    Department of Health and Welfare Science, Okayama Prefectural University
  • Tokuchi Ryo
    Department of Occupational Therapy, Okayama Institute for the Medical and Technical Science

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  • 加齢と言語性記憶―検査語リストの構造化の影響―
  • カレイ ト ゲンゴセイ キオク : ケンサゴ リスト ノ コウゾウカ ノ エイキョウ

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Abstract

<p>Aim: Typical neuropsychological methods for measuring the verbal memory function include the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (AVLT) and the California Verbal Learning Test (CVLT). The stimulus words of the CVLT are structured according to their semantic categories, and many researchers have claimed that the CVLT can also evaluate subjects' memory strategy. However, the stimulus words of these tests do not have equal difficulty, which is necessary when comparing their performances directly, and there are no standard word lists for them in Japanese. In this study, we developed two word lists with the same number and difficulty of stimulus words in order to examine the effects of aging on the comprehension of structured word lists.</p><p>Methods: A non-structured (NS) verbal memory test to represent the AVLT and a structured (S) test to represent the CVLT were developed. The subjects were 40 healthy young adults (18-25 years of age) and 40 healthy elderly individuals (65-80 years of age).</p><p>Results: The results revealed that the elderly group correctly recalled significantly fewer words than the young group. The elderly group demonstrated a significantly higher rate of word loss due to interference. The number of correctly recalled words in the elderly group was significantly more for the S test than for the NS test, which was not the case in the young group.</p><p>Conclusions: Since elderly people have a poorer verbal memory than younger people, they gain more benefit from the S test, in which the word list is structured and subjects may be able to use memory strategies more easily. This is the first study in Japan to present standardized word lists for list-learning tasks and their normative data in different age groups.</p>

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