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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2008 Nov 20.
Published in final edited form as: J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci. 2007 Jun;62(SPEC):85–96. doi: 10.1093/geronb/62.special_issue_1.85

Detailed Description of Individual Measures

Measure Form of Administration Description
Alphabet Span (Craik, 1986) Group Participants are presented with a series of words. They are then required to write down the words in alphabetical order.
Attitudes Towards Computer Questionnaire (Jay & Willis, 1992) Group A 35-item scale that assesses eight dimensions of attitudes towards computers (comfort, efficacy, gender equality, control, interest, dehumanization, and utility).
California Verbal Learning Test–Delayed (Delis, Kramer, Kaplan, & Ober, 1987) Group Participants are asked to recall as many words as they remember from the original list after a 20-min delay.
California Verbal Learning Test–Immediate (Delis et al., 1987) Group Participants are presented with a list of words and asked to recall as many words as they remember. This is repeated for five trials.
Computation Span (Salthouse & Babcock, 1991) Group Participants are asked to solve arithmetic problems that are presented orally while simultaneously trying to remember the solution for each of the problems.
Computer Anxiety (Loyd & Gressard, 1984) Group A 10-item scale that assesses general anxiety and comfort toward computers.
Choice Reaction Time (Wilkie, Eisdorfer, Morgan, Loewenstein, & Szapocnik, 1990) Individual (computer based) Participants are required to respond to a stimulus, which appears on the screen (solid square), with their right or left hand, depending on the location of the stimulus. There are a total of 60 trials.
Cube Comparison Test (Ekstrom, French, Harman, & Dermen, 1976) Group A measure of spatial orientation wherein participants are required to identify whether two cubes are the same or different.
Digit Span (Wechsler, 1981) Individual Consists of two parts. In the first part, pairs of random-number sequences are read aloud, and the participants' task is to repeat each sequence. In the second part, participants are presented with a series of digits and asked to recall them in reverse order.
Digit Symbol Recall Test (Wechsler, 1981) Group After the standard Digit Symbol Substitution Test, participants are asked to recall the digit–symbol pairs from memory.
Digit Symbol Substitution Test (Wechsler, 1981) Group Participants are presented with a series of rows that pairs digits (1–9) with a nonsense symbol and are then required to fill in symbols below a row of digits.
Inference Test (Ekstrom et al., 1976) Group Participants are required to draw conclusions from information presented in statements.
Letter Sets (Ekstrom et al., 1976) Group Participants are required to determine which of four sets of letters is unrelated to the others.
Meaningful Memory (Institute for Personality and Ability Testing, 1982) Group Initially, participants are given a list of things to study. Following 20 min, participants are asked to pick from a list a word that means the same or about the same as the word that was described in the first list.
Multidimensional Aptitude Battery (Jackson, 1998) Group Participants are required to answer questions related to knowledge of diverse topics.
Nelson–Denney Reading Comprehension (Brown, Fischo, & Hanna, 1993) Group Participants are required to answer questions regarding the meaning of seven reading passages.
Number Comparison (Ekstrom et al., 1976) Group Participants are required to inspect pairs of multidigit numbers and then indicate whether the pairs are the same or different.
Paper Folding (Ekstrom et al., 1976) Group A measure of spatial visualization wherein participants are asked to visualize the folding and unfolding of pieces of paper. They are required to identify the figure being folded.
Self-Efficacy (Rodin & McAvay, 1992) Group An 8-item paper-and-pencil questionnaire that assesses general self-efficacy.
Shipley Vocabulary (Shipley, 1986) Group Participants are asked to circle the word that has the same meaning or most nearly the same meaning as a referent word.
Simple Reaction Time (Wilkie et al., 1990) Individual (computer based) Participants use their dominant hand to press the keyboard when the stimulus (blue box) appears.
Stroop Color Word Association Test (Golden, 1978) Individual Paper-and-pencil test. Participants are required to separate the color names of color words.
Technology and Computer/World Wide Web Experience Questionnaire (CREATE) Group A 14-item paper-and-pencil questionnaire that assesses use of technology and use/breadth of experience with computer technology and the World Wide Web.
Trail Making Test (Forms A and B; Reitan, 1958) Individual In Part A, participants draw lines to connect consecutively numbered circles. In Part B, participants draw lines to connect alternating numbered and lettered circles.
Information Subscale of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale–III (Wechsler, 1997) Group Participants are required to write down responses to questions about factual information that deals with general knowledge about common events, objects, places, and people.