Can longitudinal changes in processing speed explain longitudinal age changes in fluid intelligence?

The processing-speed theory of cognitive aging contends that age-related declines in intellectual function reflect the consequences of age-related slowing of processing speed. Cross-sectional data support this assumption. The association between 4-year changes in processing speed and 4-year changes in fluid intelligence was examined with a sample of 417 older adults. Changes in processing speed correlated .53 with changes in fluid intelligence. The difference in the explanatory power of processing speed regarding age-related differences and age-related changes is discussed with reference to other longitudinal studies and methodological considerations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Declines in divergent thinking with age: Cross-sectional, longitudinal, and cross-sequential analyses.

Six measures of divergent thinking were administered to 825 men ranging in age from 17 to 101 over the period from 1959 to 1972; repeat administrations were given to a subset of 278 men after a 6-year interval. Cross-sectional analyses showed curvilinear trends, with an increase in scores for men under 40 and a decline thereafter. Repeated measures analyses on subjects initially aged 33 to 74 generally replicated this finding, whereas cross-sequential analyses suggested a decline for all cohorts tested at a later time. Additional analyses suggested that not all of the decline could be attributed to reduced speed of response production. These longitudinal findings confirm earlier cross-sectional reports of decline in divergent thinking abilities with age. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"Perceptual speed in adulthood: Cross-sectional and longitudinal studies": Correction.

Reports an error in the original article by K. Warner Schaie (Psychology & Aging, 1989[Dec], Vol 4[4], 443–453). On page 449, some of the data in Table 8 were computed with an incorrect algorithm. The corrected table, which does not change the conclusions of the article, is included. (The following abstract of this article originally appeared in record 1990-09502-001.) Cross-sectional data on age differences in perceptual speed are presented from the Seattle Longitudinal Study for the age range 22–91 years (N?=?1,620, first assessed in 1977; N?=?628, first assessed in 1984). In addition, 838 subjects were followed over the 7-year interval. Markers of perceptual speed were the Identical Pictures and Finding A's tests from the Educational Testing Service's Kit of Factor-Referenced Cognitive Tests. Significant age differences, age changes, and cohort differences were found at both observed variable and latent construct levels. Cross-lagged correlations examine the role of perceptual speed in predicting later performance on other abilities (Verbal Meaning, Inductive Reasoning, Spatial Orientation, Number, and Word Fluency).… (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Open-field behavior of the rat as a function of age: Cross-sectional and longitudinal investigations.

Exposed 52 female Sprague-Dawley albino rats to an open field for 5 min. daily between the ages of 31-110 days. Ss 40 days old or younger showed day-to-day increments in activity during repeated apparatus exposures, while no group 70 days old or older showed this activity change. In Exp. II groups of 9 Ss, 31 and 110 days old, respectively, were given 60 open-field trials. The juveniles increased their activity and maintained this elevated behavior; adults never did exhibit any significant increase in activity. Results indicate a critical period among rats such that high rates of ambulation are typical of only those animals that are placed in the apparatus prior to Day 70. (22 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The nature of the influence of speed on adult age differences in cognition.

Two studies were conducted to determine the relations among age, motor speed, perceptual speed, and 3 measures of cognitive performance: study time, decision time, and decision accuracy. Each study involved over 240 adults (all Ss aged 18–87 yrs) who performed a battery of tests, including computer-administered tests of memory, reasoning, and spatial ability. Results indicate that (1) increased age was associated with lower accuracy as well as with longer study time and decision time and (2) some of the relations between age and decision accuracy and between age and decision time appear to be mediated by a slower rate of executing cognitive operations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Verbal knowledge and speed of information processing as mediators of age differences in verbal fluency performance among older adults.

Age-related declines in verbal fluency among a large sample of older adults were investigated. Background variables, verbal knowledge, and speed of processing were examined as predictors of verbal fluency and as mediators of age effects. As expected, age-related declines were greater on the excluded letter fluency task than on the initial letter fluency task. Verbal knowledge was a better predictor of initial letter fluency than speed of processing, whereas the reverse was true for excluded letter fluency. However, speed of processing-accounted for more of the age-related variance in both fluency measures than the other predictors. There was no evidence of verbal knowledge compensating for age-related declines in verbal fluency. Results suggest that verbal fluency performance is well maintained in late life and that any age-related decline appears to be mainly due to declines in speed of information processing. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of age, speed of processing, and working memory on comprehension of sentences with relative clauses.

Two hundred participants, 50 in each of four age ranges (19–29, 30–49, 50–69, 70–90) were tested for working memory, speed of processing, and the processing of sentences with relative clauses. In Experiment 1, participants read four sentence types (cleft subject, cleft object, subject-subject, subject-object) in a word-by-word, non-cumulative, self-paced reading task and made speeded plausibility judgments about them. In Experiment 2, participants read two types of sentences, one of which contained a doubly center embedded relative clause. Older participants' comprehension was less accurate and there was age-related slowing of online processing times in all but the simplest sentences, which increased in syntactically complex sentences in Experiment 1. This pattern suggests an age-related decrease in the efficiency of parsing and interpretation. Slower speed of processing and lower working memory were associated with longer online processing times only in Experiment 2, suggesting that task-related operations are related to general speed of processing and working memory. Lower working memory was not associated with longer reading times in more complex sentences, consistent with the view that general working memory is not critically involved in online syntactic processing. Longer online processing at the most demanding point in the most demanding sentence was associated with better comprehension, indicating that it reflects effective processing under some certain circumstances. However, the poorer comprehension performance of older individuals indicates that their slower online processing reflects inefficient processing even at these points. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cross-sectional and longitudinal uses of isoinertial, isometric, and isokinetic dynamometry

The purposes of this investigation were to assess whether maximal isoinertial (triceps pushdown [TP] and triceps extension [TE]), isometric and isokinetic (1.04, 2.08, 3.14, 4.16, and 5.20 rad.s-1) forearm extension strength measures: 1) presented statistical generality when they were correlated prior to and following 4, 8, and 12 wk of resistance training; 2) were similarly affected by training; and 3) presented statistical generality when their changes as a consequence of training were intercorrelated. Fifteen men (11 experimental and 4 controls) without a history of resistance training participated in the study. Training involved four sets of 8-12 repetitions, each followed by 90-s recovery, at 70-75% one repetition maximum (1RM), three times a week, for 12 wk. Training incorporated the TP, close-grip bench press, and triceps kickback exercises. Prior to and after 4, 8, and 12 wk of training, the intercorrelations among the TP, isometric, and isokinetic indices almost always achieved statistical generality (i.e., r2 > 0.5). It was concluded that the strength measures generally discriminated similarly between subjects. However, the sensitivity of the strength measures to the effects of training were dissimilar. While all strength indices increased with the training, the timing (isoinertial prior to isometric and isokinetic adaptations) and magnitude (TP > TE > isometric > isokinetic) of the adaptations varied greatly. None of the intercorrelations between changes in the strength indices achieved statistical generality. Furthermore, factor (F)-analyses on these changes indicated that in the initial and later stages of training, there were three and four discrete factors, respectively, accounting for strength development. These factors were thought to reflect differential effects of training on the structural, neural (including learning), and mechanical mechanisms underpinning each strength index. Possible applications of this research design in better understanding strength development were also canvassed.     

Social cognition and family relationships: Comment.

Two goals are set in this commentary on the 3 articles (see records 84-15452, 15476, and 15475) included in this special section. The 1st is to place the articles within a larger context, bringing out their common features and the ways in which they fit within a variety of moves toward exploring the cognitive aspects of family life. The 2nd is to indicate several research possibilities that could extend the studies and the concepts contained in the 3 articles. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cross-sectional and longitudinal patterns of dedifferentiation in late-life cognitive and sensory function: The effects of age, ability, attrition, and occasion of measurement.

The dedifferentiation hypothesis is examined with respect to age-group differences, ability-group differences, attrition-group differences, and time. Cognitive and sensory data were analyzed from individuals (n = 1,823) who completed a clinical assessment on at least 1 of 3 occasions of measurement in the Australian Longitudinal Study of Ageing. Inconsistent dedifferentiation effects were associated with low ability and early attrition from the study, but age-related dedifferentiation was not found. Longitudinal analyses confirmed the cross-sectional analyses. Even though instances of dedifferentiation were identified between pairs of sensory and cognitive variables, consistent patterns of dedifferentiation were not found. These results do not support the view that shared biological factors become increasingly important for explaining within-individual change in cognitive and sensory function in later life. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The cognitive reserve hypothesis: A longitudinal examination of age-associated declines in reasoning and processing speed.

The term cognitive reserve is frequently used to refer to the ubiquitous finding that, during later life, those higher in experiential resources (e.g., education, knowledge) exhibit higher levels of cognitive function. This observation may be the result of either experiential resources playing protective roles with respect to the cognitive declines associated with aging or the persistence of differences in functioning that have existed since earlier adulthood. These possibilities were examined by applying accelerated longitudinal structural equation (growth curve) models to 5-year reasoning and speed data from the no-contact control group (N = 690; age 65–89 years at baseline) of the Advanced Cognitive Training for Independent and Vital Elderly study. Vocabulary knowledge and years of education, as markers of cognitive reserve, were related to levels of cognitive functioning but unrelated to rates of cognitive change, both before and after the (negative) relations between levels and rates were controlled for. These results suggest that cognitive reserve reflects the persistence of earlier differences in cognitive functioning rather than differential rates of age-associated cognitive declines. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relational competence, relationships, and adjustment in old age.

Investigated how the implications of relational competence and satisfying personal relationships for adjustment differ among young-old (60–72 yrs) and old-old (73–94 yrs) adults. Four studies with 377 young-old and old-old adults were conducted to test the hypothesis that among old-old Ss, adjustment and psychological well-being would be less predictable from personality (relational competence) variables or from satisfactory social involvements. Results indicate that for the young-old Ss, relational competence, social involvement, and satisfaction with social support relationships were associated positively with morale, self-esteem, and adjustment to widowhood. This pattern was not found among the old-old Ss. Findings are consistent with the (role-theoretical) view that personality characteristics assume meaning only when they have interpersonal consequences, and with the notion that the very old often experience a less prescribed and less evaluative social environment, with fewer social opportunities or role functions. (43 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Naming speed, memory, and visual processing in reading disability.

Investigated the independence of naming speed (NS), auditory memory (AM), and visual processing speed (VPS) for scores on 3 subtests of the Woodcock-Johnson Tests of Psycho-Educational Achievement, using 39 children (aged 7–15 yrs). The effects of age, general intellectual ability, and attentiveness were controlled. Analyses showed that NS contributed unique variance to all reading subtests; its contribution to the Word Attack subtest (nonsense word decoding) was strongest. The variance shared by AM and Word Attack was atttributable to NS. VPS contributed to Word Attack through variance shared with NS and through unique variance. (French abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Affect and age: Cross-sectional comparisons of structure and prevalence.

The self-reports of 207 young-adult (aged 18–30 yrs), 231 middle-aged (aged 31–59 yrs), and 828 older-adult (aged 60 yrs and over) Ss were used to study the structure of affect. Affects were represented by terms included in various circumplex arrays of emotions as presented by previous investigators. A set of 46 affects was subjected to exploratory analysis, and a final set of 38 affects was subjected to confirmatory factor analysis. The goodness of fit of each group's factor loadings to the hypothesized factors of positive affect, depression, anxiety–guilt, contentment, hostility, and shyness was not up to the desired .90 level, and some significant differences in factor structure were observed for each age-group comparison. There were few age differences in levels of positive affect. Depression was most frequent among younger Ss and least frequent among older Ss. Younger Ss were most often anxious and shy. Older Ss were most often content and least often hostile. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Adult age differences in the speed and capacity of information processing: II. An electrophysiological approach.

A total of 60 subjects performed different variants of the Sternberg memory search task in an experiment designed to evaluate aging differences in the speed of the human information-processing system. The present study examined the nature of the age-related slowing using convergent methodologies of Sternberg's additive factors logic, the speed-accuracy trade-off, and the P300 component of the event-related brain potential. These methodologies revealed that a substantial component of slowing was manifest in perceptual encoding, response criterion adjustment, and response execution, with a lesser component related to memory search speed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Loneliness predicts reduced physical activity: Cross-sectional & longitudinal analyses.

Objective: To determine cross-sectional and prospective associations between loneliness and physical activity, and to evaluate the roles of social control and emotion regulation as mediators of these associations. Design: A population-based sample of 229 White, Black, and Hispanic men and women, age 50 to 68 years at study onset, were tested annually for each of 3 years. Main Outcome Measures: Physical activity probability, and changes in physical activity probability over a 3-year period. Results: Replicating and extending prior cross-sectional research, loneliness was associated with a significantly reduced odds of physical activity (OR = 0.65 per SD of loneliness) net of sociodemographic variables (age, gender, ethnicity, education, income), psychosocial variables (depressive symptoms, perceived stress, hostility, social support), and self-rated health. This association was mediated by hedonic emotion regulation, but not by social control as indexed by measures of social network size, marital status, contact with close ties, group membership, or religious group affiliation. Longitudinal analyses revealed that loneliness predicted diminished odds of physical activity in the next two years (OR = 0.61), and greater likelihood of transitioning from physical activity to inactivity (OR = 1.58). Conclusion: Loneliness among middle and older age adults is an independent risk factor for physical inactivity and increases the likelihood that physical activity will be discontinued over time. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychological distress following criminal victimization in the general population: Cross-sectional, longitudinal, and prospective analyses.

Samples of 105 violent crime victims, 227 property crime victims, and 190 nonvictims provided normative data regarding levels of psychological distress following criminal victimization. At points approximately 3, 9, and 15 mo post-crime, symptoms of depression, somatization, hostility, anxiety, phobic anxiety, fear of crime, and avoidance were assessed. Although crime victims showed substantial improvement between 3 and 9 mo, thereafter they did not. Over the course of the study, violent crime victims remained more distressed than did property crime victims who, in turn, remained more distressed than nonvictims. Regression analyses revealed that the effects of crime could not be accounted for by pre-crime differences between victims and nonvictims in either social status or psychological functioning. However, lasting effects were often contingent on the occurrence of subsequent crimes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relation of task switching to speed, age, and fluid intelligence.

Two studies were conducted to investigate whether a meaningful task-switching construct could be identified and, if so, to determine how it was related to measures of higher order cognition and to adult age. Both studies revealed that measures of task switching were moderately correlated across different combinations of tasks and that a switching construct could be distinguished from a construct reflecting processing speed. The results of the 2nd study revealed that although the task-switching construct was related to age and to measures of episodic memory, inductive reasoning, and spatial visualization, most of the relations between the switching construct and both age and other measures of cognition were shared with other variables. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Concurrent and longitudinal patterns among sanctions, mood, and attributions.

Although some theorists claim that attributions are antecedents of mood changes, others argue that they are consequents. It is difficult to resolve this controversy satisfactorily because (a) the possibility that attributions are causally related to mood but mediated by another variable has not been considered fully, and (b) additional longitudinal research, particularly about how attributions are related to the offset of dysphoria, needs to be completed. We report a concurrent and longitudinal study addressing these issues. The concurrent study replicated and extended previous research, demonstrating that attributions for test performance were correlated with sanctions of affirmation and blame when they were correlated with mood. Furthermore, sanctions were more strongly associated with mood than were attributions. In the longitudinal study, sanctions decreased for subjects reporting decreased dysphoria and remained constant for those reporting stable mood. A similar consistency between the patternings of moods and attributions was not found. These results suggest that attributions are related to mood when their effects are mediated by sanctions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Bulimia and interpersonal relationships: A longitudinal study.

We assessed changes in bulimia in female college students and changes in the relation between bulimia and interpersonal relationships with women and men. A measure of bulimia (BULIT) of M. C. Smith and M. H. Thelen (see record 1985-02946-001) was taken at Time 1, after a 7-month interval (Time 2), and again after a 12-month interval (Time 3). Measures of interpersonal relationships with women and men were taken at Time 2 and Time 3. Three groups were constituted on the basis of BULIT scores at Time 1: bulimic, subclinical bulimic (Ss who tested just under the cutoff for bulimia), and normal. Ss who tested bulimic or normal at Time 1 tended to continue to do so. In contrast, the subclinical bulimic group endorsed less bulimic symptomatology over time. There were strong negative correlations between the BULIT and ratings of interpersonal relationships with men. The subclinical bulimics showed the greatest improvement over time in ratings of their relationships with men. Counselors may need to consider severity of bulimia and relationship issues during treatment planning. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)