Abstract
Cross-sectional studies of cognitive aging compare age groups at 1 time point. It is unclear from such studies whether age-related cognitive differences remain stable across time. We present a cross-sectional investigation of vocabulary scores of 2,000 younger and older adults collected across 16 years, using the same laboratory and protocol. We found a steady decrease with year of testing and an advantage for older adults. An additive relation between age group and year of testing implied that age-related differences in vocabulary are independent of changes over time, suggesting that younger and older adults are similarly affected by changes in word usage.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 856-862 |
| Number of pages | 7 |
| Journal | Psychology and Aging |
| Volume | 30 |
| Issue number | 4 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 1 Jan 2015 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- Aging
- Cognitive abilities
- Cohort
- Vocabulary
- Year of testing
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Social Psychology
- Aging
- Geriatrics and Gerontology