Christensen H, Mackinnon A J, Korten A E, Jorm A F, Henderson A S, Jacomb P, Rodgers B
National Health and Medical Research Council Psychiatric Epidemiology Research Centre, Australian National University, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory.
Psychol Aging. 1999 Sep;14(3):365-79. doi: 10.1037//0882-7974.14.3.365.
This longitudinal study investigated whether age is associated with increases in interindividual variability across 4 ability domains using a sample of 426 elderly community dwellers followed over 3.5 years. Interindividual variability in change scores increased with age for memory, spatial functioning, and speed but not for crystallized intelligence for the full sample and in a subsample that excluded dementia or probable dementia cases. Hierarchical regression analyses indicated that being female, having weaker muscle strength, and having greater symptoms of illness and greater depression were associated with overall greater variability in cognitive scores. Having a higher level of education was associated with reduced variability. These findings are consistent with the view that there is a greater range of responses at older ages, that certain domains of intelligence are less susceptible to variation than others and that variables other than age affect cognitive performance in later life.
这项纵向研究以426名老年社区居民为样本，对其进行了3.5年的跟踪调查，以研究年龄是否与4个能力领域个体间变异性的增加有关。在整个样本以及排除了痴呆或疑似痴呆病例的子样本中，记忆、空间功能和速度方面变化分数的个体间变异性随年龄增长而增加，但晶体智力方面并非如此。分层回归分析表明，女性、肌肉力量较弱、疾病症状较重以及抑郁程度较高与认知分数的总体变异性较大有关。受教育程度较高与变异性降低有关。这些发现与以下观点一致：在老年时存在更大范围的反应，某些智力领域比其他领域更不易发生变化，并且年龄以外的变量会影响晚年的认知表现。
