AGE CHANGES IN INTELLECTUAL ABILITIES IN THE ELDERLY

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

The purpose of the proposed study is to carry out a seven year follow-up testing with an extensive battery of intellectual and cognitive abilities tests on a sample of 150 elderly persons ranging in age from 58 to 73 years of age when they were originally tested in 1980 to 1981. Data will be gathered on variables related to factors of Figural Perceptual Speed, Symbolic Perceptual Speed, Verbal Comprehension, Inductive Reasoning, Choice Reaction Time and Sternberg Reaction Time. The obtained data will be used to test hypotheses concerning age changes in factor structure, mean factor levels, and to evaluate relationships with sex, subjective health and educational status. The continuation study is planned as a logical extension and partial replication of the study carried out in the previous funding period. During the first year of the proposed study, final data analyses and report writing from this previous study are to be completed. Also, file organization and test proctor training will be completed. During the first year, recruitment, scheduling and retesting will begin. Testing, scoring and computer file entry will continue for sixteen months. Data reduction, analyses and report writing will be completed during the last nine months of the grant period. The overall purpose of the study is to achieve an enhanced understanding of age changes in ability factor structure and mean factor levels in elderly persons, and also to better understand antecedants of such change.