Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of North Texas, Dec., 2009. / Title from title page display. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.S.W.)--University of Hong Kong, 1990.

Thesis (M.H.S.)--Boise State University, 2009. / Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 38-43).

Thesis (M.P.H.)--University of Hong Kong, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 39-43).

Thesis (M.H.S.)--Boise State University, 2009. / Title from t.p. of PDF file (viewed Oct. 23, 2009). Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 38-43).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--George Washington University, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 273-283).

Thesis--Kwansei Gakuin Daigaku. / Summary in Japanese. Includes bibliographical references.

Elderly depressed patients are often referred for a neuropsychological examination to evaluate their cognitive abilities and to assist in making a differential diagnosis of dementia vs. depression when the etiology of presenting symptoms is unclear. Indices of discrimination (i.e., the ability to identify target from distractor items during recognition memory testing) and response bias (i.e., the probability of saying "yes" to an item when uncertain if it is a target or a distractor) have been suggested as useful aids when making such a differential diagnosis. Prior research indicated that discrimination abilities were significantly better in depressed elderly as compared to demented elderly and that depressed patients used the most conservative response strategy (i.e., they tended to say "no" more often when uncertain) while demented patients had a more liberal response style (i.e., they tended to say "yes" more often). However, little is known about the performance of patients with dementia complicated by depression. This study attempted to address the nature of discrimination ability and response bias in patients with dementia complicated by depression, as compared to demented patients without affective symptoms and depressed patients without cognitive impairment. Results indicated that demented and demented/depressed groups had poorer discrimination abilities than the depressed group. Discrimination abilities of the demented and the demented/depressed groups were similar. Pattern of responses, however, reflected a significantly more conservative response bias in the demented/depressed group as compared to the demented group. The demented/depressed group were also more conservative than the depressed group, but this comparison did not reach statistical significance. These results suggest that the combined effects of dementia and depression have a "conservatizing" effect on response bias in demented/depressed patients. This "conservatizing" effect may provide useful information when considering if an underlying depression exists in a demented patient. / Graduate

The present study examined the concurrent validity of several proposed measures of premorbid IQ, present ability measures, and demographic variables at predicting intellectual, verbal memory, and language performance in a sample of 98 normal elderly Canadians (mean age = 71.9 years). Predictive regression equations were developed to estimate performance on criterion measures in each cognitive domain including general intellectual ability (i.e. Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised Verbal IQ: WAIS-R VIQ), verbal memory (i.e. California Verbal Learning Test long delayed free recall: CVLTLDFR), and language domains (i.e. Boston Naming Test: BNT). These new regression equations utilized a combination of measures of premorbid VIQ and present ability measures to account for 63%, 32% and 54% of the variance in WAIS-R VIQ, CVLTLDFR, and BNT performance, respectively. The utility of these new equations for detecting impaired performance and cognitive decline in clinical samples was evaluated by calculation of sensitivity scores for each equation based on the method proposed by Graves, Carswell & Snow (in press). The results indicated that performance would have to decline by approximately 15 points for WAIS-R VIQ, 6 points for CVLTLDFR, and 6 points for BNT scores, to be reliably detected 80% of the time. The implications of the sensitivity of each of these equations was discussed with regard to the clinical application of these equations for predicting premorbid cognition in early Alzheimer's disease. The current study was also the first study to develop predictive regression equations utilizing measures of premorbid VIQ and present ability measures to estimate verbal memory and language performance in a healthy elderly sample. / Graduate

The purpose of the study was to explore and describe the meaning in life and satisfaction with life of the elderly living in the old age institutions.