Final answer:
Older adults use memory-enhancing strategies, such as mnemonics and rehearsal, to compensate for lapses in memory, particularly in ensuring that information is transferred to long-term memory. These can help mitigate memory impairments that arise from aging or disease.
Step-by-step explanation:
Memory Enhancement in Older Adults
Kliegel's classical study suggests that older adults are quite skilled at using memory-enhancing strategies such as mnemonics, which help them compensate for lapses in memory, such as remembering if they've done something. These strategies may include the use of rehearsal, which involves the conscious repetition of information, and elaborative rehearsal. This technique involves processing information more deeply by linking it to other information and memories, helping ensure that it is transferred into long-term memory. Also, strategies like applying the self-reference effect, where one makes the information personally meaningful, can further support memory retention. Researchers have explored various aspects of memory and cognitive rehabilitation, including the use of virtual reality, as a way to mitigate memory impairments caused by aging and diseases that may affect memory, such as ones where brain plaques are involved. Proactive interference, where old information hinders recall of newly learned information, and procedural memory, a type of long-term memory for skilled actions, are relevant concepts here.