Struggling to hear impact word memory

Struggling to hear impact word memory
Many researchers have observed that our ability to remember new information declines with age. A new study examines the degree to which the effort to hear a word drains mental resources needed to remember the word.

The researchers compared the ability to recall a list of words in two groups of older adults, one with good hearing and the other with hearing deficiencies. Participants heard 15-word lists, which were stopped at random points. Their task: To recall the last three words they'd heard.

Both groups showed excellent recall of the final word, the researchers wrote. However, recall of the two words that preceded it was poorer for the hearing-loss group than for the others, although all words were delivered with equal volume.

Since both groups could correctly report the last word heard, the researchers reasoned that the hearing-loss group's failure to recall the previous two words was not because they hadn't heard them. They concluded that "the extra effort the adults with hearing loss had to expend" just to hear the words consumed mental "resources that would otherwise have been available" for memorization.

Researchers suggest that people who speak with older adults who have some hearing loss modify their speech patterns by enunciating and pausing after clauses to give listeners time to perceptually catch up.
Struggling to hear impact word memory