Avorn J
J Am Geriatr Soc. 1983 Mar;31(3):137-43. doi: 10.1111/j.1532-5415.1983.tb04852.x.
Studies in age-related cognitive changes do not necessarily take into account the clinical and social phenomena associated with age that may have more effect on cognition than does psychologic senescence. Clinically inapparent biologic deterioration, drugs, mild dementia, and atypically presenting depression may influence cognition. Selection bias may skew the results of studies on the elderly when control groups are made up of undergraduates or of "normal" elderly whose normality is taken for granted rather than verified. The epiphenomena of aging, such as retirement, social isolation, and bereavement, which are not inherent in the aging process, influence cognition, as do labeling and learned helplessness. Laboratory-based tests of cognition may not sufficiently resemble real-life conditions to have validity. Future research will be shaped by how we conceptualize the relation between aging and intellectual function.
关于与年龄相关的认知变化的研究不一定会考虑到与年龄相关的临床和社会现象，这些现象对认知的影响可能比心理衰老更大。临床上不易察觉的生物退化、药物、轻度痴呆以及非典型表现的抑郁症都可能影响认知。当对照组由大学生或被认为正常但未经验证的“正常”老年人组成时，选择偏倚可能会歪曲关于老年人的研究结果。衰老的附带现象，如退休、社会孤立和丧亲之痛，这些并非衰老过程所固有的现象，以及标签化和习得性无助，都会影响认知。基于实验室的认知测试可能与现实生活条件不太相似，因而缺乏有效性。我们如何将衰老与智力功能之间的关系概念化，将决定未来的研究方向。
