Graduation Date
Summer 2025
Document Type
Project
Program
Master of Arts degree with a major in Psychology, option Academic Research
Committee Chair Name
Christopher Walmsley
Committee Chair Affiliation
Cal Poly Humboldt Faculty or Staff
Second Committee Member Name
Jamie Jensen
Second Committee Member Affiliation
Cal Poly Humboldt Faculty or Staff
Keywords
Memory wallets, Memory aids, Dementia, Alzheimer's, Cognitive decline, Verbal behavior, Communication aids, Communication intervention
Subject Categories
Psychology
Abstract
As the baby boomer generation (individuals born between 1946 and 1964) continues to age into late adulthood, the need for resources and care related to aging is in high demand. Age-related neurocognitive decline (NCD) is broadly characterized by a gradual decrease in one’s ability to think, remember, and reason. Loss of speech and coherent conversation is a common challenge for older adults with neurocognitive decline, often marked by an increase in nonspecific pronoun use, frequent and sudden shifts in topic, and repetition, which can lead to a decrease in activity engagement, less social interaction with peers, and social isolation. Memory aids have proven effective in enhancing communication for older adults with NCD. The current study’s objective was to systematically replicate Bourgeois and Mason (1996), while introducing probe measures to assess the older adult’s ability to engage in three verbal operants (intraverbal, tact, and textual). The effects of the memory wallet intervention were mixed across participants. While some of the older adult participants demonstrated reductions in off-topic, perseverative, and unintelligible utterances, and increases in novel utterances, others showed little change or modest declines. Three of the four participants showed stable or improved novel utterances during the intervention, whereas one exhibited a decrease, though she produced the highest number of aid statements among all participants. The conversational partner’s behavior showed modest changes across conditions with the average statements decreasing for three out of four participants and questions increasing for all but one participant. These patterns were observed in a multiple baseline design.
Citation Style
APA
Recommended Citation
Romero Pavon, Sarah B., "Evaluating the effects of memory aids on conversational behaviors in older adults with cognitive decline and their caregivers" (2025). Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects. 2332.
https://digitalcommons.humboldt.edu/etd/2332