A Quick Test of Cognitive Speed: Patterns of Age Groups 15 to 95 Years

• Published in: Perceptual and motor skills 2007-06, Vol.104 (3_suppl), p.1067-1075
• Main Authors: Wiig, Elisabeth H., Nielsen, Niels Peter, Jacobson, James M.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 0031-5125; 1558-688X
• DOI: 10.2466/pms.104.4.1067-1075

A Quick Test of Cognitive Speed color, form, and color-form naming were administered to 300 normal participants (ages 15–95 years) to explore the effects of age on perceptual (single-dimension naming) and cognitive speed (dual-dimension naming). Naming time means (sec.) were consistent with previous findings. Correlations between age and naming time were low, but significant. Linear regression with age as a factor indicated time increases of 1 sec. per decade for colors and color-form combination naming and of 6 sec. per decade for form naming. Participants were divided into age cohorts, each covering a decade, and naming times were transformed to normalized z scores. The normalized means were similar for color, form, and color-form naming and increased by about 1 SD between ages 15–25 and 75–85 years. The ranges were similar across cohorts, about 2 SD. The findings concur with age patterns for visual-pattern comparison speed, fluid intelligence, and working memory reported by Salthouse in 2004.