THE DEVELOPMENT OF AUDITORY-COGNITIVE TRAINING MATERIALS IN MALAY LANGUAGE INTENDED FOR OLDER ADULTS WITH NORMAL AND WITH NEURO-COGNITIVE IMPAIRMENT

Abstract

Introduction: The purpose of this study is to develop an auditory-cognitive training material which focuses on working memory and cognitive interference tasks that are suitable for older adults.

Methods: The common Malay words were collected from 66 older adults and rated in terms of their familiarity by another 52 older adults using Likert scale.  Of 566 different Malay words listed, 158 words were categorized as familiar. These familiar words were subsequently represented through drawing and voice recorded by a female native speaker of Malay language. Additionally, 84 simple questions in Malay language were also voice recorded to be used as cognitive distractor. Later, all materials were combined as a web-based computer aided training system.

Results: There were 5 materials created: i) voice recorded of Bahasa Melayu words as stimuli; ii) voice recorded questions as cognitive interferences; iii) line drawing tied with words as response materials; iv) task algorithms; and v) system specification requirement. 

Conclusion: This study provides a comprehensive auditory cognitive training materials to be used in the newly developed auditory-cognitive training system (UKM^TM).