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Sequential and coordinative complexity : age-based processing limitations in figural transformation
(1993)
Dimensions of cognitive complexity in figural transformations were examined in the context of adult age differences. Sequential complexity was manipulated through figural transformations of single objects in a multiple- object array. Coordinative complexity was induced through spatial or nonspatial transformations of the entire array. Results confirmed the prediction that age-related slowing is larger in coordinative complexity than in sequential complexity conditions. The effect was stable across 8 sessions (Exp 1), was obtained when age groups were equated in accuracy with criterion-referenced testing (Exp 2), and was corroborated by age-differential probabilities of error types (Exps 1 and 2). A model is proposed attributing age effects under coordinative complexity to 2 factors: (1) basic- level slowing and (2) time-consuming reiterations through the processing sequence due to age-related working memory failures. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Past research suggests that age differences in measures of cognitive speed contribute to differences in intellectual functioning between young and old adults. To investigate whether speed also predicts age-related differences in intellectual performance beyond age 70 years, tests indicating 5 intellectual abilities—speed, reasoning, memory, knowledge, and fluency—were administered to a close-to-representative, age-stratified sample of old and very old adults. Age trends of all 5 abilities were well described by a negative linear function. The speed-mediated effect of age fully explained the relationship between age and both the common and the specific variance of the other 4 abilities. Results offer strong support for the speed hypothesis of old age cognitive decline but need to be qualified by further research on the reasons underlying age differences in measures of speed.
Sequential and coordinative complexity : age-based processing limitations in figural transformations
(1993)
Dimensions of cognitive complexity in figural transformations were examined in the context of adult age differences. Sequential complexity was manipulated through figural transformations of single objects in a multiple-object array. Coordinative complexity was induced through spatial or nonspatial transformations of the entire array. Results confirmed the prediction that age-related slowing is larger in coordinative complexity than in sequential complexity conditions. The effect was stable across 8 sessions (Experiment 1), was obtained when age groups were equated in accuracy with criterion-referenced testing (Experiment 2), and was corroborated by age-differential probabilities of error types (Experiments 1 and 2). A model is proposed attributing age effects under coordinative complexity to 2 factors: (a) basic-level slowing and (b) time-consuming reiterations through the processing sequence due to age-related working memory failures.
A paradigm for the determination of time-accuracy functions (TAFs) for individual participants is introduced for two pairs of tasks differing in cognitive complexity, that is, word scanning vs cued recognition and figural scanning vs figural reasoning. TAFs can be used to test dissociations of cognitive processes beyond scale-related ambiguities of ordinal interactions. The approach is applied to examine the cognitive-aging hypothesis that a single slowing factor can account for interactions between adult age and cognitive task complexity. Twenty young and 20 old adults participated in 17 sessions. Presentation times required for 75, 87.5, and 100% accuracies were determined for each task with a variant of the psychophysical method of limits. Accuracy was fit by negatively accelerated functions of presentation time. State-trace analyses showed that different slowing factors are required for high- and low-complexity tasks. Relations to speed-accuracy and performance-resource functions are discussed.