Psychology MCAT Practice Exam

What happens to episodic memory as a person ages?

1. It improves consistently.

2. It remains stable.

3. It declines over time.

4. It becomes more vivid.

The correct answer is: It declines over time.

As individuals age, research indicates that episodic memory, which refers to the ability to recall specific events, situations, and experiences from one’s past, tends to decline over time. This deterioration is often characterized by difficulties in encoding new memories and retrieving previously learned information. With aging, factors such as changes in brain structure, including a decrease in the volume of the hippocampus and other related areas, can contribute to this decline. Additionally, the speed of processing stimuli and accessing memories also tends to slow, which can negatively impact the ability to recall episodic memories accurately. The other options reflect common misconceptions or different aspects of memory that do not apply specifically to episodic memory in the same definitive way. For instance, while certain types of implicit memory or procedural memory may remain stable or even improve, episodic memory does not benefit similarly with age. Therefore, the correct understanding is that episodic memory typically experiences a decline as individuals grow older.