Processing speed in the aging process: screening criteria for the Spanish Quick Test of Cognitive Speed

Percept Mot Skills. 2014 Oct;119(2):417-29. doi: 10.2466/22.PMS.119c22z2. Epub 2014 Sep 22.

Abstract

A Quick Test of Cognitive Speed was administered to 357 participants without cognitive impairment, aged 18 to 85 years, to explore the effects of age on processing speed variables in Spanish speakers and to provide normative data for the test adapted to this population. Results were consistent with previous findings: correlations between age and naming times were high and statistically significant. Linear regression indicated that cognitive processing speed on this test slows 2 to 4 sec. per decade, depending on the task. Normalized data were provided. The findings concur with several studies that have linked age-cognitive impairment with slowing processing speed. This study attempted to assess the importance of this relation, as information processing speed could be considered a measure of cognitive impairment in everyday clinical screening evaluations.

Publication types

  • Comparative Study
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Validation Study

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Aged, 80 and over
  • Aging / psychology*
  • Cognition Disorders / diagnosis*
  • Cognition Disorders / psychology
  • Color Perception
  • Cross-Cultural Comparison*
  • Discrimination, Psychological
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Mass Screening / statistics & numerical data*
  • Mental Status Schedule / statistics & numerical data
  • Middle Aged
  • Neuropsychological Tests / statistics & numerical data*
  • Pattern Recognition, Visual
  • Psychometrics / statistics & numerical data*
  • Reaction Time*
  • Reference Values
  • Reproducibility of Results
  • Semantics
  • Spain
  • Verbal Behavior
  • Young Adult