Final answer:
Memory problems tend to increase with age due to a limit on working memory capacity, leading to a higher likelihood of forgetting and a decline in cognitive task performance. Fluid intelligence, unlike crystallized intelligence, declines in late adulthood, but this can be mitigated by staying mentally and physically active. Interference, encoding failures, and diseases like Alzheimer's affect memory retention.
Step-by-step explanation:
The prevalence of memory problems increases as older adults age- there is a limit on the number of items a person can retain in their memory at once, that is the more information one has to handle the more you're likely to forget, which ultimately causes a decline in performance on memory and cognitive tasks. Therefore, the more any given cognitive task makes demands on working memory the larger the discrepancy with age.
It is well-established that while crystallized intelligence may hold steady or improve with age, fluid intelligence—which includes information processing abilities, reasoning, and memory—typically declines in late adulthood. However, engagement in mental and physical activities can play a part in delaying cognitive decline. Causes of memory issues may include encoding failures, interference, and brain trauma or disease, with Alzheimer's disease being a notable example that severely hampers memory functions.