What determines cognitive estimation ability? Changing contributions of semantic and executive domains as a function of age

The Cognitive Estimation Test (CET) is commonly used in neuropsychological assessment. It is typically assumed to load on executive functions, although research has shown that CET performance also depends on semantic knowledge. Yet, it is unknown whether these contributions vary with age. It is important to examine this question as these abilities have divergent life course trajectories: executive functions tend to decline as people age but semantic knowledge continues to accrue. We investigated cognitive predictors of CET performance in healthy young and older adults. We found that better executive function was associated with more accurate estimation in both age groups. However, the effect of semantic knowledge on CET performance was significantly larger in older people, having no predictive power in the younger group. The ability to detect weak semantic associations, a measure of controlled semantic retrieval, also had divergent effects on CET performance in the two age groups. Our results provide empirical support for the idea that older people are more reliant on semantic knowledge when estimating quantities, which may explain why age-related decline in CET scores is not typically found. We conclude that deficits on the CET may be indicative either of semantic or executive impairments, particularly in older age groups.

Executive Functioning in Healthy Aged Population in comparison to Young Adults Using Cognitive Estimation Test

Background and objective: Cognitive estimation is an important task in which people engage themselves in estimating the environment in different aspects of their life, such as; distance, quantity, size, weight etc The study was taken up to evaluate the cognitive estimation skills in Healthy Aged Population in comparison to Young Adults. Methodology: A total of 40 healthy young and old adults participated in the study. The participants were divided into two groups. Cognitive Estimation Test (CET) was administered for both the groups. The CET, was modified to suit Indian population consisted of 18 questions under the domains of distance, quantity, size, weight, temperature and time. Responses were scored for Under-estimation (UE), Over-estimation (OE), Approximate answer (AA), and No answer (NA). Number of UE, OE, AA, and NA were calculated. Independent t-test was employed to find out the significant differences between the means of both the groups. Results: Results revealed that young adults were better in estimating the environment when compared to healthy aged population, which was significant .Distance and size dimensions were remarkably affected in comparison to all other dimensions. Instances of No answers (NA) were higher in healthy aged population in comparison to young adults. Conclusion: The results indicate that, the decline in cognitive estimation abilities is a part of healthy aging rather than a pathological condition. Thus CET can be used as a tool in the assessment and management of cognitive disorders.

The Inter-Rater and Test-Retest Reliability of the Design Fluency and Ruff Figural Fluency Tests - Erratum

The following erratum is printed at the request of authors, who indicated that the original author lineup was incorrectly submitted to the INS.The poster entitled “The Inter-Rater and Test-Retest Reliability of the Design Fluency and Ruff Figural Fluency Tests” (JINS, 2(1), p. 3) had the following authors listed incorrectly as T.P. Ross & B.N. Axelrod. The correct author listing is as follows: T.P. Ross, B.N. Axelrod, R.A. Hanks, R.S. Kotasek and R.D. Whitman.The poster entitled “The Reliability and Validity of a Modified Cognitive Estimation Test” (JINS, 2(1), p. 3) was listed incorrectly as T.P. Ross. The correct author listing is T.P. Ross, R.A. Hanks, R.S. Kotasek & R.D. Whitman.Both of the aforementioned posters were presented during Poster Session 1 (Assessment I, Language I, and Memory I) on Wednesday, February 14, 1996, 4:30 p.m.-7:00 p.m. All other printed information pertaining to these abstracts is correct.