RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

WEEK 1: INTRODUCTION TO RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

TASK 1: Identify the following elements in the following research report: researchers, topic, time and
place of study, participants, research methods, and major findings. In your opinion, why is each
research study below worthwhile?

STUDY FINDS THAT BRAIN EXERCISES HELP MEMORY

By David McAlary
Washington, 19 December 2006
As we get older, most of us will have more difficulty remembering things, like phone numbers,
grocery lists, and most importantly, when to take medications. But a new study shows that mental
training for elderly people can help them function better in their daily lives. VOA's David McAlary
reports.
With the proportion of elderly people growing in the global population, scenes like this might
become more common. "The next word is elephant, because the elephant is on the moon, not a man in
the moon."
This is a trainer teaching a group of elderly women strategies to help them remember things like
lists better. Psychologist Sherry Willis says the goal is to help them maintain mental, or cognitive skills.
"We focused on three abilities: memory, reasoning and speed of processing."
Dr. Willis and her colleagues at Pennsylvania State University and five other U.S. sites studied
nearly 3,000 elderly people who lived independently and did not have dementia. Some got 10 one-hour
training sessions over six weeks while others got no training at all. "Immediately after training,
individuals who were trained on memory or individuals who were trained on reasoning or speed
showed significantly higher performance than those who received no training," she said.
But even better, much of that benefit held up for five years after the training. Willis' team reports in
the Journal of the American Medical Association that people who got the training also felt better about how
well they functioned in their daily activities. "Older adults really can continue to exercise mentally and
to improve their cognitive abilities. But it does take work. It's just like physical exercise, you have to do
it consistently and diligently," he said.
Strong mental abilities mean people can take better care of themselves, by remembering their
medications, for example. Eighty-year-old Pauline Lopez had trouble remembering phone numbers
until she was in the study and had the memory training. "I do remember phone numbers much more
readily right now. I don't know what's happened but I see them one time, then I remember them, and I
remember directions better than I had before," she said.
She took that memory training in 1999 and says it continues to help her.
In an editorial accompanying the study, Wake Forest University psychologist Sally Shumaker and
colleagues say cognitive training programs may give individuals a greater sense of control over their
mental lives and have a beneficial effect on the quality of their lives.
They add that such mind exercises provide another type of intervention for people with the form
of dementia called Alzheimer's disease who cannot tolerate existing drugs for the condition.
Dr. Sherry Willis at Pennsylvania State University says the best way to exercise your mind is to
find activities you like, such as crossword puzzles or crafts, but be sure to keep challenging yourself.
"Don't do the same activity over and over in a routinized manner. One must continually seek more
challenging tasks so that your mind is exercised," she said.

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