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Updated: Aug 29, 2026

Eye Movements in Visual Duration Perception: Disentangling Stimulus from Time in Predecisional Processes
Published on: January 19, 2024
Short-term versus long-term longitudinal changes in processing speed
Daniel Zimprich1, Scott M Hofer, Marja J Aartsen
1Department of Gerontopsychology, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland. d.zimprich@psychologie.unizh.ch
Background:
Previous longitudinal studies of cognitive aging have focused on long-term performance changes. A recent surge of research has demonstrated that there are reliable interindividual differences in short-term cognitive performance changes.
Objective:
The present study links these two pathways of cognitive aging research by examining the association between short-term (learning, practice) versus long-term (development) changes in processing speed.
Methods:
Data from 963 elderly participants come from the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam (LASA).
Results:
Nested latent growth curve analyses show that the amount of learning or practice in processing speed at first measurement occasion is positively related (r = 0.72) to individual differences in development of processing speed across 6 years.
Conclusions:
Short-term learning or practice gains in processing speed are positively associated with long-term developmental changes in processing speed in the elderly.
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