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Assessment of Age-related Changes in Cognitive Functions Using EmoCogMeter, a Novel Tablet-computer Based Approach

Assessment of Age-related Changes in Cognitive Functions Using EmoCogMeter, a Novel Tablet-computer Based Approach

Published on: February 14, 2014

Dispersion in cognitive functioning: Age differences over the lifespan.

Nathalie Mella¹, Delphine Fagot², Anik de Ribaupierre^1,2

¹a Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences , University of Geneva , Geneva , Switzerland.

Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology

|December 1, 2015

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Intraindividual variability (IIV) in cognitive tasks shows distinct lifespan trends. Young adults exhibit less dispersion in response time tasks compared to children and older adults, highlighting IIV

Keywords:

Dispersion aging development intraindividual variability lifespan

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Area of Science:

Cognitive Psychology
Developmental Psychology
Neuroscience

Background:

Intraindividual variability (IIV) offers insights into cognitive functioning beyond average performance.
This study specifically examines dispersion, a measure of IIV across tasks, and its developmental trajectory throughout life.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the developmental trends of across-task dispersion in cognitive tasks.
To compare dispersion patterns in response time (RT) and working memory (WM) tasks across the lifespan.

Main Methods:

A large sample of 557 participants aged 9-89 years completed RT and WM tasks.
Dispersion was analyzed separately for RT and WM tasks.
Cluster analysis was used to identify performance profiles based on dispersion and overall ability.

Main Results:

Response time task dispersion showed a U-shaped trend, with young adults being least variable.
Working memory task dispersion exhibited an inverse developmental trend.
Two distinct clusters emerged: one with low dispersion and high performance, and another with high dispersion and lower performance.

Conclusions:

Across-task IIV is substantial and warrants consideration in cognitive research.
Children and older adults display greater dispersion in RT tasks compared to young adults.
Cognitive performance and variability are linked, with distinct patterns observed across the lifespan.