The interrelationship of memory functions in a nursing home population.
Memory functioning was assessed in a group of thirty nursing home residents to determine the level of functioning and the interrelationship of memory processes and age in this population. Nine different types of memory processes were measured. Results indicated that memory functions in this population were interrelated to a greater extent than in community based elderly populations, yet not to as great an extent as suggested in other more impaired groups. On the other hand, while 21 of the 36 correlations of scores on the tests of memory were statistically significant, the greatest amount of variance accounted for between these test scores was only 55%. This result was interpreted to indicate that the memory functions assessed in this nursing home population were non-unitary in nature. The implications of these findings for memory theory and for the practitioner are discussed.
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory; D008875:Middle Aged; D014888:Wechsler Scales