THE MODULAR MEMORY TRAINING FOR OLDER ADU LTS - DEVELOPMENT AND EVALUATION

We present a modular concept of a cognitive training relevant to the d emands of everyday life of community dwelling older adults. The concep t has three major advantages. First, it takes into account the current performance levels and needs of the trainees. Second, the training is economical in aiming at selecting the most effective training element s. Third, the concept allows the evaluation of single elements of the training. The application of this concept points at the importance of training content being relevant to trainees' everyday lives. Results i ndicate that training effectiveness depends on the starting level of p erformance and the cognitive domain being trained. Overall, the result s demonstrate the possibility to maximize training gains of older adul ts by designing adequate trainings for well-defined subgroups of norma l older adults.