How does age affect memory

[OneTwo]

Hello, good afternoon.

I want to do a science project on how each age group affects memory. I'm going to make 5 people from each categories from ages 0-10, 11-20, 21-30, 31-40, 41-50. Then im going to experiment them by placing 8 objects in a box and give them 90 seconds to look at them, then im going to give them 60 seconds to write them out.
Hypothesis: the younger the human body is the greater the memory is, the older the human gets the weaker his memory becomes.
Procedure is:
1) gather 5 people from each category.
2) Place 8 random pbjects in a box.
3) Give each person 90 seconds to observe whats inside.
3) give each person 60 seconds to write down what he remembers.
4) record and calculate your results.

thats what I have so far. I want to do really good on this project, please inform me what I have to fix because im in an academic course. Or what can I do to make this academic. I already was starting on a project but they declined it because it was against the science fair rules. please i have acouple of more days to do this. I need to get a good grade. HEEEEELP!

[dcnick96]

Hello. A very interesting project! The categories, the number of people from each category, the time, your hypothesis, and scoring all looks great. You may want to consider choosing more than 8 objects. With 90 seconds to examine the box, I'm thinking it might be fairly easy to remember all 8 objects. It will be more difficult to remember 15 or more objects.

Have you thought about what kind of background research you intend to do? Since you are in an academic course, I think it's a good bet you will be asked why age could affect memory. Do you intend on asking any questions of the test subjects? Folks that remember a higher number of objects...what methods did they use to memorize? Visual, alphabetical, grouping them into similar categories, rhyming, ???

If you wish to write back with more information as to what you are researching, how you are setting up your variables, analysis, etc; we'll be happy to provide more feedback. I think you are off to a great start!

Good luck!

[OneTwo]

Thanks for you feed back! But what do you mean about background information? I wasnt thinking of that at all:/

[OneTwo]

Do you mean background information like the analysis? Okay so right bow in going to get my result and add it here! But im confused about your background information.

[OneTwo]

I think i had a cool idea. Instead of just testing them with objects in a box am i able to test them with other activities. For instance ill solve a rubic cube( dont know what its called) then ill mix it up but ill memorize how to resolve it, and ill teach them once how to solve it, theyll be like 10 steps to solve and theyll have to solve it.

[theborg]

OneTwo,

I think i had a cool idea. Instead of just testing them with objects in a box am i able to test them with other activities. For instance ill solve a rubic cube( dont know what its called) then ill mix it up but ill memorize how to resolve it, and ill teach them once how to solve it, theyll be like 10 steps to solve and theyll have to solve it.

Neat idea. Really, anything that requires memory and recall will work. Other examples would be recalling a sequence of numbers, colors, objects and thier places in a room, etc...The puzzle solving adds an interesting twist. However, the one issue I see is that you are sort of presenting two things to remember at the same time, both color combination and move pattern. For some test subjects, the added dimension may be enough of a distraction to skew your results. Not saying it won't work, just give thought to your dependent, independent, and control variables.

[dcnick96]

Hello, again. I apologize for not responding sooner. Got caught up in the holiday.

Background research. Think of your science project as an essay. You want to give an introduction and background information in the beginning. At the end of the experiment, if you find out there is a difference in memory capability between the groups, you will want to try and answer why that happened. After all, if you can't answer why, then why are you doing the experiment in the first place, right?!!? Also, background research will help you ensure you are setting up your experiment with the highest probability of success. For example, say you don't find out until after you have completed the experiment that humans have no capability to memorize until the age of 12. Then, you wasted your time by studying the 0-10 age group. I'm not saying this is true...just an example of why you want to do background research!

Ideas for background research. This isn't an exhaustive list, but I hope it will give you some ideas.
- What is memory?
- Are there different kinds of memory? If so, what are they? What kind of memory are you studying with this experiment?
- How does the brain function to memorize?
- Does memory work differently at different ages? If so, how?
- Does memory deteriorate with age? If so, at what age? (Do your results reflect this? Perhaps this will help you develop your hypothesis)
- Are there different techniques humans use to memorize? Which techniques work best? (Do you want to ask this of your subjects?). For example, one might come up with an acronym of the first letters of each object to remember. Another person may be able to make a mental image of all of the objects.
- At what age do humans have the capability to memorize?
- Have similar experiments been done? What were the results? (May also help you to develop your hypothesis).

As far as your Rubik's Cube idea goes, I think it would also be an interesting experiment; and it is very doable. It will be studying a different kind of memory (background research question #2 above!), so be sure what you will be studying with the experiment is, in fact, what you want to study. Suggestion: a simple Google search of "different types of memory" will help here. Is a 5 year old capable of learning a Rubik's Cube sequence?

If you want to stick with the Rubik's Cube test, take a look at this experiment. A different angle, but it might interest you.
http://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/project_ideas/Math_p023.shtml#background

I hope I have answered your question. Feel free to continue asking questions. This should be a great experiment!

[OneTwo]

hank youso uch forreplying,I fullyunderstandwhat youmeanby background information. Thankyou somuch.
To test myquestion whatI did is seperate the procedure into 4 differentparts. These parts consists of activities that will test the human memory. The activities that I choose are : Adding 10 objects in a box( the activitylistedabove), RubricsCube, Memorizing celebrityfaces, andthe last acitivity is a game i made up, I will add 10 objects on the floorthe volunteer will stare at them only no touching, then i will cover their eyes and the will ave to touch each object and remember how its was by feeling its form and texture. Sounds good?
And for each age category we willuse 5 people to have an accurate result. Is that too much people or should we only choose . Also for this experiment I want to make graphs since i am in an academic course, but im still confused on how to build them like what should be the independednt variable and the dependent variable b????. Help please, fast the due date is closer!

[dcnick96]

The four experiments sound fine. 5 subjects also sound fine. I recommend 3-5 as a minimum, but more is always better if you can recruit more volunteers.

Let's talk about your hypothesis and variables. Your answer lies in your very first statement at the beginning of the thread. See if you can identify the variables based on the definitions below.

I want to do a science project on how each age group affects memory. I'm going to make 5 people from each categories from ages 0-10, 11-20, 21-30, 31-40, 41-50.

Independent variables are those that may cause an effect on the outcome of the experiment. I say may, because you won't know if they will or not until after you conduct the experiment. These variables will change during the experiment.

Dependent variables are those that could be affected by independent variable(s). You will observe the outcome of these variables based on changing the independent variables.

For graphing: You say you want to see how age affects memory. How do you intend on measuring this effect (measuring the dependent variables)? This measurement may be different for each of the four experiments. For a science fair, objective (numerical) data is always better. Can you graph (or present in a different manner) what you are measuring?

Write back with what you think are possibilities for variables and graphing options, and we can discuss further.

[OneTwo]

Thank you that helped alot! I was thinking of having the independent variable as the age groups, and the dependent variable would be the results. ShouldI do more then one graph or not, I really wantto show them different types of grpahs that i built. But then what would those grpahs be based on? i already did results. And what type of graph is needed for mine? Bar graph, scatter plot, or.......
I also have another idea since i created 4 procedures for each i was thinking of having a graph for each activity to show their results then in the end ill create one hole grpah for all the activities and compare there results. sounds good or is it a bit too much?

[OneTwo]

Theses types of graphs that I really liked. Line grpah, histogram, and bar graph. But im thinking a bar graph is a good graph because it will show a clearer picture on what im trying to show. Is good or bad?

[OneTwo]

Hey, I have bad news. My teacher refused this while idea of age affecting memory because she said why is the purpose of this hole thing. She said it had been already solved so there's no purpose of it. Unless if I change it and have twist on it I'm allowed to do it, which I don't know how to do that. I'm screwed I have 2 weeks left to find an idea procedure hypothesis question and etc. please help I'm so stressed and depressed right now......

[theborg]

OneTwo,

I'm sorry to hear of your setback. My advice is to keep your spirits up. Every good researcher has gone through this. Often, it only takes a few tweeks of the hypothesis/study to have it focus on a new aspect of the topic.

That being said, are you dead set on a memory/age related experiment? If there was another field of study that interested you, perhaps you can find one that meets your teacher's requirements. On that, it may help us help you if you provided us those guidelines...i.e. does it have to be totally new research?

Let us know ASAP and we'll try to help.

[OneTwo]

Okay thanks for the support.Okay, I checked in with the teacher and she finally agreed on something! My new project is on how acid rain affects aquatic ecosystems. Please help! She said I only have a minimum amount of time. Only 2 weeks left.... Please and thank.

[Goldenzenith]

Hi OneTwo,

You said your new project is on the effect of acid rain on a particular type of ecosystem, but I didn't see any specific question in the post. Could you clarify what you would like help with?

Thanks!