AbstractsPsychology

Previous research has shown that there is a decline in learning performance in old age. Just what factors may produce this loss is not known with any certainty. The older person may be a poorer learner because he forms new associations less rapidly, or because he retains them less well. If learning performance declines because new associations are acquired less rapidly, again, this may be due to lack of motivation or attention, or it may be due to decreased modifiability of the nervous system with age or lack of practice at learning.