Compared with other age groups, the literacy practices and creative outputs of older adults (50+ years) have been seldom researched. Generally, research about older adults has tended to focus on decline and agential passivity, rather than potentiality. In this article, we report on a small ethnographic study of older Australians who were part of a…

In this article, we develop a framework that demonstrates how older adults need to develop diverse capabilities in relation to their educational life course through engagements in Nordic museums, archives and street art activities. We discuss how European museums have taken up UNESCO's approach to lifelong learning as a way to conceptualise…

In a climate of fiscal constraint and cuts to public spending, it is more important than ever to demonstrate the effectiveness of learning programmes. The author carried out an action research project within Norfolk County Council's adult community learning service, where she works as a tutor, with the aim of increasing the impact of reminiscence…

Although memory inhibition seems to underlie retrieval-induced forgetting (RIF), there is some controversy about the precise nature of this effect. Because normal RIF is observed in people with deficits in executive control (i.e., older adults), some have proposed that an automatic-like inhibitory process is responsible for the effect. On the…

In recent years, attention has been focused on investigating the effectiveness of composite memory intervention programs with different age and diagnostics groups. The goal of this study was to measure changes in cognitive lapses by Cognitive Failure Questionnaire (CFQ) in a large trained, dementia free group (Mini-Mental State Examination [MMSE]…

Using memories is a feasible way to work with older adults. Through an interactive reminiscence process, older people often come to terms with "unfinished business" and untapped strengths. The process is important for adult education practitioners who can enrich their understanding of lifeways and inner worlds of diverse populations in their…

Older diabetic adults should receive memory training to improve their compliance with medication taking. The intervention should include comprehensible medical instructions, assistance with remembering the nutritional values of food, and higher order skills for disease management. (SK)

Reviews research on effects of interventions aimed at maintaining or improving memory function among older adults including slowing pace of learning, organizing learning materials, training in use of imagery, mnemonics, and supportive environments. Explicates the ways in which findings of laboratory research can be incorporated into educational…

Elderly subjects and college-age subjects were compared on the strategy used to answer a question based on information in memory. The two strategies studied were direct retrieval and plausibility. The first experiment tested the hypothesis that older subjects will rely on the plausibility strategy more than young subjects. A second experiment…

Describes a poetry workshop in which the teachers intended to teach the students but instead found themselves learning with the students. Discusses the importance of elder poets' use of reminiscence and relationships. Techniques that were used, such as audiotaping and discussion of poems, and formula stems are explained. (CT)

Reviews research literature to determine implications for educational programs for elderly persons. Showed that, in general, researchers fall far short of providing useful information to practitioners in this field. Suggested that laboratory research on cognition and learning must be followed by research conducted in the actual educational…

Considers the unique cognitive and intellectual factors that influence the learning and education of older adults. Reviews research on patterns of intellectual and cognitive aging and the implications of patterns in attention, memory, information retrieval, and tolerance for interference in the development of cognitive training programs for older…

A literature review led to the following categories of factors affecting learning in older adults: major changes in physical capacities, changes in sensory capacities, changes in speed and timing, attitude changes, learning capacity and performance, memory change, and changes in adjustment ability and morale. (SK)

This cooperative extension bulletin is designed to help family and professional caregivers understand dementia in later life and learn to cope more effectively with the changes resulting from a progressive dementing illness. The first three sections describe the differences between senility and dementia, causes of dementia, and adjustments that…

Research on factors affecting the aging learner, including intelligence, memory, motivation, loss of speed, and physical health is reviewed, refuting the belief that learning ability declines with age. Strategies and techniques for the education of older adults are recommended. (SK)