Table 1.
Background details (means and standard deviations) of young and older participants, and results of comparisons between age groups.
| Variable | Young | Older | |
|---|---|---|---|
| M (SD) | M (SD) | Comparison | |
| Age (years) | 22.3 (4.3) | 70.3 (5.3) | – |
| Healtha | 4.7 (0.5) | 4.1 (0.6) | t(34) = 3.23, p < 0.01 |
| Vocabularyb | 18.5 (4.0) | 23.2 (2.8) | t(36) = −4.23, p < 0.001 |
| Speedc | 70.1 (14.9) | 50.8 (10.4) | t(36) = 4.67, p < 0.001 |
| Visual acuityd | 7.0 (1.1) | 5.1 (1.3) | t(38) = 5.06, p < 0.001 |
Self-rated health on a 5-point scale (very poor; poor; fair; good; very good); data missing for two young and two older participants.
Vocabulary from the multiple choice section of the Mill Hill vocabulary test (Raven et al., 1988); maximum score = 33; data missing for two young participants.
Processing speed based on the Digit Symbol Substitution task (Wechsler, 1981); data missing for two young participants.
Visual acuity as measured by the number of lines read correctly from the Near Vision Test Card (Schneider, 2002) viewed at a distance of 16 inches whilst wearing corrective glasses, with scores ranging from 1 (16/160—lowest acuity) to 9 (16/16—highest acuity).