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Cognitive performance inconsistency: intraindividual change and variability.

Nilam Ram1, Patrick Rabbitt, Brian Stollery

  • 1Department of Psychology, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22904-4400, USA. nilam@virginia.edu

Psychology and Aging
|January 20, 2006
PubMed
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Cognitive inconsistency in older adults decreases with practice over time. Higher fluid intelligence (G-sub(f)) is linked to less inconsistency and more stable performance, especially after accounting for practice effects.

Area of Science:

  • Cognitive psychology
  • Neuroscience
  • Gerontology

Background:

  • Cognitive performance inconsistency is a known phenomenon.
  • Limited research exists on how this inconsistency evolves over time in older adults.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the temporal dynamics of cognitive inconsistency in older adults.
  • To examine the relationship between changes in inconsistency and individual differences in age and intelligence.

Main Methods:

  • Weekly cognitive testing of 91 older adults (ages 52-79) over 36 weeks.
  • Utilized multitrial memory speed tasks (e.g., letter recognition).
  • Applied multivariate statistical techniques to analyze performance inconsistency and its predictors.

Main Results:

Related Experiment Videos

  • Cognitive inconsistency is distinct from underlying memory speed ability.
  • Inconsistency showed an exponential decrease with practice.
  • Higher fluid general intelligence (G-sub(f)) correlated with lower final levels of inconsistency.
  • Lower G-sub(f) scores were associated with greater week-to-week variability in inconsistency, even after controlling for practice.

Conclusions:

  • Cognitive inconsistency is a measurable and dynamic aspect of cognitive aging.
  • Practice significantly reduces cognitive inconsistency.
  • Fluid intelligence plays a role in moderating the level and stability of cognitive inconsistency in older adults.