ABSTRACT

A series of cognitive tests (memory, attention, language, executivefunction) were administered to 67 young and old participants agedfrom 20s to 70s. Each task was programmed using a computersoftware and performed on the computer. For the memory andlanguage tests, participants responded verbally to the instructions andfor the attention and executive function tasks, they responded bypressing big-sized buttons designed for people with disabilities. Thestudy demonstrated overall age-related cognitive deficits in older adultsbut showed that some cognitive functions, such as attention andlanguage, seemed more resilient to aging than others. The results alsoshowed that memory impairments in older adults seemed due to alack of encoding rather than retrieval; education level turned out tobe an important factor in language but not to other cognitivefunctions and generally attention declined as people got older andtheir attention deficits were even more prominent while doing morecomplex attention tasks. Statistically controlling for attention, however,did not directly affect the test results of other cognitive functions.