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Updated: May 5, 2026

Highlighting and Reducing the Impact of Negative Aging Stereotypes During Older Adults' Cognitive Testing
Published on: January 24, 2020
Cognitive Inconsistency and Practice-Related Learning in Older Adults
Joseph M Dzierzewski1, Michael Marsiske, Adrienne Aiken Morgan
1Geriatric Research, Education, and Clinical Center, VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System, Los Angeles, CA ; David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles.
Abstract:
The current study examined predictors of individual differences in the magnitude of practice-related improvements achieved by 87 older adults (meanage 63.52 years) over 18-weeks of cognitive practice. Cognitive inconsistency in both baseline trial-to-trial reaction times and week-to-week accuracy scores was included as predictors of practice-related gains in two measures of processing speed. Conditional growth models revealed that both reaction time and accuracy level and rate-of-change in functioning were related to inconsistency, even after controlling for mean-level, but that increased inconsistency was negatively associated with accuracy versus positively associated with reaction time improvement. Cognitive inconsistency may signal dysregulation in the ability to control cognitive performance or may be indicative of adaptive attempts at functioning.
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