ABSTRACT
One of the major gifts Fergus Craik has given to neuropsychologists, and neuropsychological research, is the lesson that processing and processing capacity are important concepts for understanding changes in memory. A second benefit is the application of this approach to the study of aging. In the latter area, Craik (among others) has emphasized the critical role of the frontal lobes in at least some of the cognitive changes that occur with aging (e.g., Craik, Morris, Morris, & Loewen, 1990; McIntyre & Craik, 1987; Moscovitch & Winocur, 1992; Stuss, Craik, Sayer, Franchi, & Alexander, 1996; R. L. West, 1996). We extended this approach by assessing whether recent findings of fractionation of frontal lobe processes could be used to define further the pattern, or patterns, of cognitive changes with aging.
