Related Experiment Video
Updated: Sep 17, 2025

Highlighting and Reducing the Impact of Negative Aging Stereotypes During Older Adults' Cognitive Testing
Published on: January 24, 2020
Practice effects persist over two decades of cognitive testing: Implications for longitudinal research
Jeremy A Elman1,2, Erik Buchholz1,2, Rouhui Chen3
1Department of Psychiatry, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA.
Background:
Repeated cognitive testing can boost scores due to practice effects (PEs), yet it remains unclear whether PEs persist across multiple follow-ups and long durations. We examined PEs across multiple assessments from midlife to old age in a nonclinical sample.
Method:
Men (N=1,608) in the Vietnam Era Twin Study of Aging (VETSA) underwent neuropsychological assessment comprising 30 measures across 4 waves (~6-year testing intervals) spanning up to 20 years. We leveraged age-matched replacement participants to estimate PEs at each wave. We compared cognitive trajectories and MCI prevalence using unadjusted versus PE-adjusted scores.
Results:
Across follow-ups, a range of 7-12 tests (out of 30) demonstrated significant PEs, especially in episodic memory and visuospatial domains. Adjusting for PEs resulted in improved detection of cognitive decline and MCI, with up to 20% higher MCI prevalence.
Conclusion:
PEs persist across multiple assessments and decades underscoring the importance of accounting for PEs in longitudinal studies.
More Related Videos
07:59Using Practice Testing, Public Speaking, and Source Monitoring to Examine the Influences of Learning Strategies and Stress on Episodic Memory
Published on: June 14, 2019
10:13Assessment of Age-related Changes in Cognitive Functions Using EmoCogMeter, a Novel Tablet-computer Based Approach
Published on: February 14, 2014
Related Concept Videos
Longitudinal Research
Longitudinal Studies
Cognitive Development During Adulthood
Long-term Potentiation
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...
Language and Cognition