Exploring Intraindividual Variability in Elders' Everyday Cognitive Performance

描述（由申请人提供）：日常认知被定义为解决认知上复杂的现实世界问题的能力（例如，药物使用，财务管理，营养），老年人在日常生活中可能面临的问题。迄今为止，研究着眼于静态评估（即，一次测量）的日常认知表现。然而，要研究日常认知或“情境认知”，重要的是不仅要了解老年人在单一场合的表现，还要了解老年人在短时间内在不同场合的表现如何波动。直觉上，持续和可预测地解决日常问题的能力对老年人具有关键的适应价值。因此，拟议中的研究旨在将认知老化研究的两个领域，日常认知和个体内变异，合并为一项研究，研究老年人日常认知能力的动态短期变化和波动的相关性，这是一个具有潜在高功能价值的领域。这项研究将使用200名65岁及以上的社区居住老人的种族异质样本进行。在基线评估后，合格的参与者将在三周内的14个不同的日子完成计算机管理的每日测试组合。这套日常成套测验将包括一种新的日常认知测量方法，这种方法是利用预先确定的老年人日常认知测量方法以及基本认知功能测量方法开发的。从广义上讲，拟议调查的目标是描述老年人日常认知能力的表现变化范围。具体而言，本研究的目标是：（1）开发一个测量工具来评估老年人的日常认知功能。(2)评估老年人日常认知功能的短期波动，并确定这种变化的相关性。(3)确定日常认知的个体内变异是否与整体日常认知表现较差和工具功能较差相关。(4)确定作为日常认知变化的风险和/或保护因素的潜在因素（基本认知能力，影响和健康）。这项研究的总体目标是更好地了解老年人如何解决日常问题，以及他们的能力如何从一天到下一天发生变化。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Everyday cognition is defined as the ability to solve cognitively complex real-world problems (e.g., medication use, financial management, nutrition) that older adults may face in their everyday lives. To date research has looked at static assessments (i.e., single occasion of measurement) of everyday cognitive performance. However, to study everyday cognition or "cognition in context" it is important to understand not only how older adults perform at a single occasion but how performance may fluctuate from occasion to occasion over a short period of time. Intuitively, the ability to solve everyday problems consistently and predictably has critical adaptive value for older adults. Consequently, the proposed study seeks to merge two areas of cognitive aging research, everyday cognition and intraindividual variability, into a single study examining the dynamic short-term changes and correlates of fluctuations in elders' everyday cognitive competency, a domain with potentially high functional value. The study will be conducted using a racially heterogeneous sample of 200 community dwelling elders aged 65 years and older. After a baseline assessment, eligible participants will be complete a computer-administered daily test battery on 14 different days over a three week period. This daily battery will include a new measure of daily everyday cognition developed using preestablished measures of elders' everyday cognition, as well as measure of basic cognitive functioning. Broadly defined, the goal of the proposed investigation is to characterize the range of performance variation in older adults' everyday cognitive competency. Specifically, the study goals are: (1) Develop a measurement tool to assess elders' daily everyday cognitive functioning. (2) Evaluate the short term fluctuations in elders' everyday cognitive functioning, and determine the correlates of that variability. (3) Determine whether intraindividual variability in everyday cognition is associated with poorer overall everyday cognitive performance and poor instrumental functioning. (4) Identify the underlying factors (basic cognitive ability, affect, and health) that serve as risks and/or protective factors for variability in everyday cognition. The overarching goal of this study is to better understand how older adults solve everyday problems, and how their ability to do so might change from one day to the next.