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. 2005 Sep;20(3):390-401.
doi: 10.1037/0882-7974.20.3.390.

Intraindividual variability may not always indicate vulnerability in elders' cognitive performance

Jason C Allaire  1 , Michael Marsiske
Affiliations

Intraindividual variability may not always indicate vulnerability in elders' cognitive performance

Jason C Allaire et al. Psychol Aging. 2005 Sep.

Abstract

This study examined consistency of performance, or intraindividual variability, in older adults' performance on 3 measures of cognitive functioning: inductive reasoning, memory, and perceptual speed. Theoretical speculation has suggested that such intraindividual variability may signal underlying vulnerability or neurologic compromise. Thirty-six participants aged 60 and older completed self-administered cognitive assessments twice a day for 60 consecutive days. Intraindividual variability was not strongly correlated among the 3 cognitive measures, but, over the course of the study, intraindividual variability was strongly intercorrelated within a task. Higher average performance on a measure was associated with greater performance variability, and follow-up analyses revealed that a higher level of intraindividual variability is positively associated with the magnitude of a person's practice-related gain on a particular measure. The authors argue that both adaptive (practice-related) and maladaptive (inconsistency-related) intraindividual variability may exist within the same individuals over time.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Best fitting regression line (Regr.) within a high-performing participant (A) and a low-performing participant (B).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Average growth trends for the Letter Series Test, list memory task, and Number Comparison Test over the 120 occasions of repeated measurement.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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