Does Variability Increase With Age? An Archival Study of Cognitive Measures

It is often asserted that older people are more variable than younger people; however, the published data do not always support this statement. To examine directly the applicability of the assertion, measures of reaction time (RT), memory, and intelligence from studies published in Psychology and Ag...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Psychology and aging 1993-06, Vol.8 (2), p.156-164
Main Author: Morse, Claire K
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Adult. Elderly
Age Differences
Aged
Aging - psychology
Analysis of Variance
Biological and medical sciences
Cognitive Processes
Developmental psychology
Female
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Human
Humans
Intelligence Quotient
Intelligence Tests - statistics & numerical data
Male
Memory
Mental Recall
Meta Analysis
Middle Aged
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychophysiology
Psychometrics
Reaction Time
Reference Values
Response Variability
Wechsler Scales - statistics & numerical data
Citations: Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:It is often asserted that older people are more variable than younger people; however, the published data do not always support this statement. To examine directly the applicability of the assertion, measures of reaction time (RT), memory, and intelligence from studies published in Psychology and Aging and the Journal of Gerontology from 1986 to 1990 were examined. The coefficients of variability calculated from data published in studies in which a group of younger people was compared with a group of older people indicated that variability was greater among older participants on measures of RT, memory, and fluid intelligence but not crystallized intelligence. Further examination of data bearing on relative variability is indicated.
ISSN:0882-7974
1939-1498
DOI:10.1037/0882-7974.8.2.156