Most older people suffer from severe memory impairments and
cannot remember such basic information as the names of their loved
ones and where they live.
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Memory declines in healthy middle-aged and elderly adults are
likely to take the form of absent-mindedness, such as forgetting
what one said an hour ago and repeating it to the same listener
or deciding to do something 10 minutes from now and then forgetting
to do so.
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Most middle-aged and elderly adults conform to the adage, “You
can’t teach an old dog new tricks.”
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Although it is true that the rate of learning is often slower
with advancing age, most research suggests that people of all ages
can learn and remember information if allowed enough time.
Because memory problems may contribute to difficulty in learning,
special methods of instruction may be particularly helpful to older
learners.
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Because of age-related declines in memory and learning, most
older people should not be given complicated and challenging jobs.
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Although older adults frequently perform more poorly on difficult
memory tests, most jobs don’t have high demands for remembering
novel information.
Furthermore, as people gain experience in a job they are likely
to increase their level of performance regardless of any memory
limitations they might be experiencing.
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