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| Research article summary (published 29 Sep 2002): |
Syllogistic reasoning and cognitive ageing.
Full Abstract
Gilinsky and Judd (1994) demonstrated that age-related impairment in syllogistic reasoning was in part due to reduced working-memory capacity. A total of 30 older (average age 66 years) and 34 younger persons (average age 24 years) were tested on syllogisms of various types as well as on other measures. Syllogistic reasoning was significantly correlated with education, processing speed, word span, and word fluency. Correlations with visuo-spatial processing and random letter generation were just short of significance. Syllogistic reasoning performance declined with age, although the deficit was no longer statistically significant following control for age-related differences in information-processing speed. On the other hand the inclusion of word fluency as an additional covariate boosted the apparent age effect, returning it to statistical significance. Thus it is possible that cognitive processes outside of working memory might underpin at least part of the apparent age deficit. This possibility is evaluated in the light of neuropsychological evidence implicating the prefrontal cortex in both the processing of syllogisms and more generally in cognitive ageing.
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Author information
Author/s: Fisk, John E (JE); Sharp, Charles (C);
Affiliation: Centre for Applied Psychology, Liverpool John Moores University, UK. j.e.fisk@livjm.ac.uk
Journal and publication information
Publication Type: Journal Article
Journal: The Quarterly journal of experimental psychology. A, Human experimental psychology (Q J Exp Psychol A), published in England. (Language: eng)
Reference: 2002-Oct; vol 55 (issue 4) : pp 1273-93
Dates: Created 2002/11/07; Completed 2002/11/26; Revised 2004/11/17;
PMID: 12420995, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 11/6/2008)
Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.
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