Question

To study differences in the cognitive processing of younger and older adults, Genevieve assessed a group of 30 year olds and a group of 60 year olds using the same cognitive task. She found no significant difference in cognitive processing between the two groups. Which of the following is a true statement that best explains her findings?
(A) Researchers have not documented changes in cognitive ability over the human life span.
(B) Genevieve’s participants were most likely women, who do not decline cognitively as they age.
(C) Genevieve’s task involved semantic memory, which does not typically show decline among people of the ages she tested.
(D) Most decline in cognitive ability is associated with dementia, which would not yet have occurred in the participants at age 60.
(E) Genevieve’s older participants were most likely taking memory medications that prolong the ability to be proficient in cognitive tasks.

Answer 1

The correct answer is letter C

Semantic memory allows human beings to communicate with language. In semantic memory, the brain stores information about words, what they look and represent, and how they are used in an organized way. It is unusual for a person to forget the meaning of the word "dictionary", or to be unable to evoke a visual image of a refrigerator when the word is heard or read.