Table 1.
Background details for participants in Experiments 1–3.
| Experiment 1† |
Experiment 2 |
Experiment 3† |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Variable | Young | Older | Young | Older | Young | Older |
| N (M/F)1 | 32 (14/18) | 32 (14/18) | 31 (5/26) | 30 (7/23) | 32 (15/17) | 32 (13/19) |
| Age range | 18–28 | 64–84 | 18–20 | 66–88 | 18–26 | 64–84 |
| Mean age (SD) | 21.0 (2.2) | 74.0 (6.1) | 19.1 (0.5) | 74.8 (6.4) | 20.7 (1.8) | 73.6 (5.8) |
| Mean years of education (SD) | 14.8 (1.8) | 14.9 (2.4) | 14.0 (0.7) | 14.8 (4.2) | 14.7 (1.8) | 15.0 (2.5) |
| Speed (SD)2 | 76.0 (8.6) | 46.6 (11.6)* | 69.8 (11.7) | 50.0 (10.8)* | 76.0 (8.6) | 47.2 (11.2)* |
| Vocabulary (SD)3 | 18.8 (3.9) | 24.2 (4.0)* | 16.8 (2.5) | 23.4 (3.5)* | 18.9 (3.8) | 24.3 (3.9)* |
Notes: 1 Number of participants whose data were included in the analyses (males/females).
2 Mean information processing speed (and standard deviation) based on the Digit Symbol Substitution test (Wechsler, 1981).
3 Mean vocabulary score (and standard deviation) based on the multiple choice section of the Mill Hill vocabulary test (Raven et al., 1988); maximum score = 33.
*Older adults significantly different from young adults, p < .001.
†The majority of participants in Experiments 1 and 3 were the same individuals.