Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 15, 2026

Assessment of Age-related Changes in Cognitive Functions Using EmoCogMeter, a Novel Tablet-computer Based Approach
Published on: February 14, 2014
A reevaluation of the common factor theory of shared variance among age, sensory function, and cognitive function in
K J Anstey1, M A Luszcz, L Sanchez
1Prince of Wales Medical Research Institute, University of New South Wales, Randwick, Australia.
Abstract:
The common cause hypothesis of the relationship among age, sensory measures, and cognitive measures in very old adults was reevaluated. Both sensory function and processing speed were evaluated as mediators of the relationship between age and cognitive function. Cognitive function was a latent variable that comprised 3 factors including memory, speed, and verbal ability. The sample was population based and comprised very old adults (n = 894; mean age = 77.7, SD = 5.6 years) from the Australian Longitudinal Study of Ageing. The results showed that there was common variance in the cognitive factor shared by age, speed, vision, and hearing but that specific effects of age on cognition remained. Furthermore, speed did not fully mediate the effect of age or sensory function on cognition. Some age differences in cognitive performance are not explained by the same processes that explain age differences in sensory function and processing speed.
More Related Videos
09:01A Method for Investigating Age-related Differences in the Functional Connectivity of Cognitive Control Networks Associated with Dimensional Change Card Sort Performance
Published on: May 7, 2014
08:13Using the Race Model Inequality to Quantify Behavioral Multisensory Integration Effects
Published on: May 10, 2019
Related Concept Videos
Cognitivism
Previously dominated by behaviorism, which prioritized observable behaviors and largely ignored mental processes, psychology transformed in the 1950s. Cognitive psychologists argue that understanding how we think and process information is...
Factors Affecting Perception
An illustrative example of a perceptual set is the scenario where an airline pilot told...
Cognitive Development During Adolescence
Cognitive Development During Adulthood
Information Processing Approach
Revisionist Views of Adolescent and Adult Cognition