Age‐related change in visual, spatial and verbal memory

Abstract

Objectives: To explore the relationship between age and performance on verbal, visual and spatial memory tasks and to examine whether verbal, visual and spatial memory can be measured as separate memory representations. Methods: Sixty‐two participants aged between 18 and 57 years completed a listening span task, a dot memory task and an irregular polygon with articulatory suppression task. Results: Verbal and spatial memory declined with increased age. The relationship between age and visual memory, although negative, was not significant. Age correlated with verbal memory to a greater degree than with visual or spatial memory. The correlations between each of the memory tasks were not significant, suggesting that each task was tapping a distinct type of memory. Conclusions: Verbal, visual and spatial memory appear to be differentially affected by age and should be examined as separate representations.