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老年人在日常生活中可能面临的认知复杂的现实问题（例如，药物使用，财务管理，营养）的能力。迄今为止的研究都着眼于日常认知表现的静态评估（即单次测量）。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，还要了解他们的表现在短时间内如何在不同场合波动。直观地说，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，本研究试图将日常认知和个体变异这两个认知衰老研究领域合并为一个单一的研究，研究老年人日常认知能力的动态短期变化及其波动的相关性，这是一个具有潜在高功能价值的领域。该研究将使用200个种族异质性样本进行，这些样本来自社区居住的年龄在65岁及以上的老年人。在基线评估后，符合条件的参与者将在三周内的14天内完成计算机管理的每日测试。这种日常电池将包括一种新的日常认知测量方法，该方法是使用预先建立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，本研究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，研究目标是：(1)开发一种评估老年人日常认知功能的测量工具。(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变异是否与较差的整体日常认知表现和较差的工具功能有关。(4)确定作为日常认知变异性的风险和/或保护因素的潜在因素（基本认知能力、影响和健康）。这项研究的首要目标是更好地了解老年人如何解决日常问题，以及他们这样做的能力如何每天都在变化。

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.