published_or_final_version / Clinical Psychology / Doctoral / Doctor of Psychology

Thesis (Psy.D.)--University of Hong Kong, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 119-133).

Thesis (M.A.)--York University, 2004. Graduate Programme in Psychology. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 102-109). Also available on the Internet. MODE OF ACCESS via web browser by entering the following URL: http://wwwlib.umi.com/cr/yorku/fullcit?pMQ99342

published_or_final_version / abstract / Psychiatry / Master / Master of Philosophy

No description available.

The present study expanded the story recognition and inference literature by investigating age differences within the older age range, differences as a result of mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and extending the focus of the investigation into the consistency of responding. 304 older adults completed a story recognition task across five different occasions. Old-old (00) adults and those with more severe MCI showed poorer ability to accurately recognize inferences, and less sensitivity to discriminate between statement types. Intraindividual variability was positively correlated with increasing age and cognitive impairment, and interactions revealed the greatest inconsistency involved the false, rather than inferred statements. The findings support our proposal that participants used two different recognition strategies, and their episodic memory ability defined the efficiency and frequency of use of the strategies. 00 and MCI adults may be less able to recognize that something plausible and consistent with an event may not have actually occurred.

Current classification systems for identifying individuals at the earliest stages of dementia, based primarily on cognitive measures, may be limited in scope. The present study examined physical functioning in a sample of 304 nondemented, older adults, classified based on presence and severity of mild cognitive impairment. In general, lower levels of physical functioning and greater inconsistency in physical functioning were found in older participants and in participants with increasing severity of cognitive impairment. Evaluation of the combined and unique contributions of level of and inconsistency in physical functioning to predicting cognitive status group membership revealed that, for some physical measures, inconsistency in physical functioning provided unique information beyond level of performance. These results are consistent with the notion that inconsistency in performance may be a behavioural marker of compromised neurological functioning and that information regarding physical functioning may prove useful for identifying individuals at the earliest stages of dementia.

No description available.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2000. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 159-173). Available also in a digital version from Dissertation Abstracts.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Oregon, 2001. / Typescript. Includes vita and abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 111-115). Also available for download via the World Wide Web; free to University of Oregon users.