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European Journal of Ageing

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01.09.2010 | Original Investigation

Five views of a secret: does cognition change during middle adulthood?

verfasst von: Daniel Zimprich, Anna Mascherek

Erschienen in: European Journal of Ageing | Ausgabe 3/2010

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Abstract

This study examined five aspects of change (or stability) in cognitive abilities in middle adulthood across a 12-year period. Data come from the Interdisciplinary Study on Adult Development. The sample consisted of N = 346 adults (43.8 years on average, 48.6% female). In total, 11 cognitive tests were administered to assess fluid and crystallized intelligence, memory, and processing speed. In a first series of analyses, strong measurement invariance was established. Subsequently, structural stability, differential stability, stability of divergence, absolute stability, and the generality of changes were examined. Factor covariances were shown to be equal across time, implying structural stability. Stability coefficients were around .90 for fluid and crystallized intelligence, and speed, indicating high, yet not perfect differential stability. The coefficient for memory was .58. Only in processing speed the variance increased across time, indicating heterogeneity in interindividual development. Significant mean-level changes emerged, with an increase in crystallized intelligence and decline in the other three abilities. A number of correlations among changes in cognitive abilities were significant, implying that cognitive changes in middle adulthood share up to 50 percent of variance.

An anonymous reviewer noted that correlated residuals were not common practice. However, in conjunction with longitudinal data, the assumption of correlated residuals appears reasonable according to the factor-analytic model, where an observed score in a manifest variable is composed of a common factor score (e.g., fluid intelligence), a specific factor score, and measurement error (cf. Meredith and Horn, 2001). The specific factor might, for example, contain effects specific to the stimulus material or specific to the task. These specific parts may be associated over time.

In a correlational metric, the difference is smaller, namely, r = .34 versus r = .46. Still, this implies that the amount of shared variance between memory and processing speed increased from 12 to 21%.

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Titel: Five views of a secret: does cognition change during middle adulthood?
verfasst von: Daniel Zimprich
Anna Mascherek
Publikationsdatum: 01.09.2010
Verlag: Springer Netherlands
Erschienen in: European Journal of Ageing / Ausgabe 3/2010
Print ISSN: 1613-9372
Elektronische ISSN: 1613-9380
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10433-010-0161-5

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Five views of a secret: does cognition change during middle adulthood?

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Live-Webinar "Urologie und Sexualmedizin in der Praxis"

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