A theory is proposed to account for some of the age-related differences reported in measures of Type A or fluid cognition. The central hypothesis in the theory is that increased age in adulthood is associated with a decrease in the speed with which many processing operations can be executed and that this reduction in speed leads to impairments in cognitive functioning because of what are termed the limited time mechanism and the simultaneity mechanism. That is, cognitive performance is degraded when processing is slow because relevant operations cannot be successfully executed (limited time) and because the products of early processing may no longer be available when later processing is complete (simultaneity). Several types of evidence, such as the discovery of considerable shared age-related variance across various measures of speed and large attenuation of the age-related influences on cognitive measures after statistical control of measures of speed, are consistent with this theory.

http://www.anitacrawley.net/Resources/Articles/salthouse%20The%20Processing%20Speed%20Theory%20of%20Adult%20Age%20Differences%20in%20Cognition.pdf

The processing-speed theory of adult age differences in cognition.

https://science.sciencemag.org/content/sci/5/110/206.full.pdf

The american psychological association.

On death and dying

Previous work in which we compared English infants, English adults, and Hindi adults on their ability to discriminate two pairs of Hindi (non-English) speech contrasts has indicated that infants discriminate speech sounds according to phonetic category without prior specific language experience (Werker, Gilbert, Humphrey, & Tees, 1981), whereas adults and children as young as age 4 (Werker & Tees, in press), may lose this ability as a function of age and or linguistic experience. The present work was designed to (a) determine the generalizability of such a decline by comparing adult English, adult Salish, and English infant subjects on their perception of a new non-English (Salish) speech contrast, and (b) delineate the time course of the developmental decline in this ability. The results of these experiments replicate our original findings by showing that infants can discriminate non-native speech contrasts without relevant experience, and that there is a decline in this ability during ontogeny. Furthermore, data from both cross-sectional and longitudinal studies shows that this decline occurs within the first year of life, and that it is a function of specific language experience. © 2002 Published by Elsevier Science Inc.

Cross-language speech perception: Evidence for perceptual reorganization during the first year of life

The development of reading depends on phonological awareness across all languages so far studied. Languages vary in the consistency with which phonology is represented in orthography. This results in developmental differences in the grain size of lexical representations and accompanying differences in developmental reading strategies and the manifestation of dyslexia across orthographies. Differences in lexical representations and reading across languages leave developmental “footprints” in the adult lexicon. The lexical organization and processing strategies that are characteristic of skilled reading in different orthographies are affected by different developmental constraints in different writing systems. The authors develop a novel theoretical framework to explain these cross-language data, which they label a psycholinguistic grain size theory of reading and its development.

Reading acquisition, developmental dyslexia, and skilled reading across languages: a psycholinguistic grain size theory.

1 Neuroanatomical and Clinical Neuropsychological Changes in Aging and Senile Dementia.- Aging: Normal versus Pathological.- Neuroanatomical Changes.- Electron Microscope Observations.- Light Microscope Changes.- Gross Changes.- Clinical Neuropsychological Changes.- Conclusions.- References.- 2 Cellular Mechanisms of Alzheimer's Disease.- References.- 3 Advances in the Psychophysiology of Aging.- Novel Descriptive Techniques: Windows into the Brain.- Event-Related Potentials.- Computerized Axial Tomography.- Intervention: Plasticity in the Aging.- Conclusions.- References.- 4 A Neuropsychological Approach to Perception and Memory in Normal and Pathological Aging.- Visual Perception: The Effects of Backward Masking on the Identification of Letters and Words.- Primary and Secondary Memory: Free Recall, Cued Recall, and Recognition of Words and Faces.- Procedural or Skill Memory.- Remote Memory.- Memory in Everyday Life.- Summary.- References.- 5 How Do Old People Know What to Do Next?.- Passive and Active Control of Momentary Changes in Selective Attention.- Recency Effects Determined by Stimulus Characteristics or by Previously Learned Associations.- Control of Efficient Interrogation of the Environment.- Search of Probable before Improbable Locations in Space.- Guiding Search on the Basis of Cues from Neighboring Background Items.- Detection of Possibilities for Developing and Using Optimal Scanning Strategies.- Detection of Constant Probability Bias and of Sudden Changes in the Relative Probabilities of Events.- Remembering What to Do Next.- Failures to Index Immediate Memory to Maintain Control in a Serial Task.- Conclusions.- References.- 6 The Development of Visual Information Processes in Adulthood and Old Age.- A Visual Information Processing Model.- Developmental Questions.- Peripheral Perceptual Processes.- Central Perceptual Processes.- Selective Attention and Pattern Recognition.- Developmental Implications.- References.- 7 The Appearance and Disappearance of Age Differences in Adult Memory.- Summary of Present Research.- Integration with Previous Research.- Conclusions.- References.- 8 General Encoding of Episodic Events by Elderly Adults.- Experiment 1.- Experiment 2.- Experiment 3.- Conclusions.- References.- 9 Learning and Memory Deficits in Institutionalized and Noninstitutionalized Old People: An Analysis of Interference Effects.- Interference.- Control of Learning and Memory Deficits.- Brain Mechanisms.- Empirical Studies.- Subjects.- Interference and Learning.- Cuing Effects.- Memory.- Concluding Comments.- References.- 10 Encoding Deficits in Aging.- References.- 11 Aging and Cognitive Deficits: The Role of Attentional Resources.- Theoretical Background.- Empirical Studies.- Aging and Divided Attention.- Depth of Processing and Aging.- Age Differences in Semantic Memory.- Summary of Empirical Results.- Conclusions: Possible Reasons for Age Decrements in Memory.- References.- 12 Classification Style Differences in the Elderly.- Method.- Subjects.- Materials.- Procedure.- Measures.- Results.- Discussion.- References.- 13 Changes with Age in Problem Solving.- The Longitudinal Study of Concept Problem Solving.- Results.- Summary of Results.- Current Status and Future Directions.- References.- 14 The Theory of Fluid and Crystallized Intelligence in Relation to Concepts of Cognitive Psychology and Aging in Adulthood.- Major Concepts.- Some General Features of Procedures.- A Few Comments in Defense of Procedures.- Subjects and Variables.- Subjects.- Variables.- Analyses and Results.- Sensory Detection in Relation to Decline of Intellectual Capacities.- Short-Term Memory, Concentration, Attendveness, and Speediness Related to Gf Decline.- Speediness, Carefulness, and Persistence in Relation to Gf Decline.- Spontaneous Alertness, Expectations, and Incidental Memory.- Multiple-Process Involvements in Gf Decline.- The Rise of Crystallized Intelligence.- Summing Up.- Brain Function in Relation to Gf and Gc.- Gf Relations to Neurological Gating Functions.- Possible Neurological Underpinnings of Gc in Relation to Total Function.- Lateralization Theory in Relation to Gf/Gc Theory.- Summary.- References.- 15 Reallocation of Mental Resources over the Productive Lifespan: Assumptions and Task Analyses.- Overview.- Assumptions in Empirical Cognitive Gerontology: Subject-Selection Practices.- The Comparability Problem.- The Volunteer Problem.- A Study of Cognition, Age, and Voluntarism.- Subject Selection and Classification.- Selection and Theoretical Classification of Tasks.- General Results.- Overall Conclusions and Theoretical Analysis.- References.- 16 Attention Switching in Higher Mental Process.- References.- 17 Studying Cognitive Performance in the Elderly: A Biopsychosocial Approach.- The Biological Issues.- The Nature of Normal Biological Aging.- Non-Specific Presentation of Illness in the Elderly.- Drugs and the Elderly.- The Epidemiology of Senile Dementia.- Social Psychological Issues.- Selection Bias.- The Epiphenomena of Aging.- Labeling and Learned Helplessness.- The Problem of Ecological Validity.- Conclusions.- References.- 18 Memory Functioning in Late Adulthood.- Five Problems of Potential Significance.- Fear of Memory Impairment.- The Meaning and/or Accuracy of Self-Assessment of Memory Problems.- The Progress of Memory Disability.- The Subjective Experience of Memory Impairment and the Strategies Employed.- Potential Effects of Self-Perceived and Attributed Memory Problems on Self-Concept and on Interpretations of Behavior.- Content of Memories in Old Age: Case Studies.- Case 1.- Case 2.- Case 3.- Case 4.- Case 5.- References.- 19 Plasticity and Enhancement of Intellectual Functioning in Old Age: Penn State's Adult Development and Enrichment Project (ADEPT).- Objectives of ADEPT.- On Variability and Plasticity in Intellectual Aging.- Variability.- Plasticity.- Context and Hypotheses of ADEPT Research.- Intellectual Aging: Role of Performance Factors and Ecological Deficits.- Theory of Fluid-Crystallized Intelligence as Framework.- General Design Characteristics.- Subjects.- Measurement Battery.- Rationale and Substance of Training.- Assessment of Training.- Results of Intervention Studies.- Retesting or No-Feedback Practice.- Training of Figurai Relations Ability.- Training of Induction.- Training of Attention/Memory.- Conclusions.- Retest Effects.- Ability-Specific Training and Transfer.- Implications: Toward an Integrative View.- Summary.- References.

Aging and cognitive processes

The study of musical abilities and activities in infancy has the potential to shed light on musical biases or dispositions that are rooted in nature rather than nurture. The available evidence indicates that infants are sensitive to a number of sound features that are fundamental to music across cultures. Their discrimination of pitch and timing differences and their perception of equivalence classes are similar, in many respects, to those of listeners who have had many years of exposure to music. Whether these perceptual skills are unique to human listeners is not known. What is unique is the intense human interest in music, which is evident from the early days of life. Also unique is the importance of music in social contexts. Current ideas about musical timing and interpersonal synchrony are considered here, along with proposals for future research.

The developmental origins of musicality

Domain-general tuning processes may guide the acquisition of perceptual knowledge in infancy. Here, we demonstrate that 12-month-old infants show an adult-like, culture-specific pattern of responding to musical rhythms, in contrast to the culture-general responding that is evident at 6 months of age. Nevertheless, brief exposure to foreign music enables 12-month-olds, but not adults, to perceive rhythmic distinctions in foreign musical contexts. These findings may indicate a sensitive period early in life for acquiring rhythm in particular or socially and biologically important structures more generally.

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Tuning in to musical rhythms: Infants learn more readily than adults

Intrinsic perceptual biases for simple duration ratios are thought to constrain the organization of rhythmic patterns in music. We tested that hypothesis by exposing listeners to folk melodies differing in metrical structure (simple or complex duration ratios), then testing them on alterations that preserved or violated the original metrical structure. Simple meters predominate in North American music, but complex meters are common in many other musical cultures. In Experiment 1, North American adults rated structure-violating alterations as less similar to the original version than structure-preserving alterations for simple-meter patterns but not for complex-meter patterns. In Experiment 2, adults of Bulgarian or Macedonian origin provided differential ratings to structure-violating and structure-preserving alterations in complex- as well as simple-meter contexts. In Experiment 3, 6-month-old infants responded differentially to structure-violating and structure-preserving alterations in both metrical co...

/pdf/metrical-categories-in-infancy-and-adulthood-3uoj4gtrvr.pdf

Metrical Categories in Infancy and Adulthood

/pdf/metrical-categories-in-infancy-and-adulthood-3gge959szd.pdf

Sandra E. Trehub

Papers

Aging and cognitive processes

The developmental origins of musicality

Tuning in to musical rhythms: Infants learn more readily than adults

Metrical Categories in Infancy and Adulthood

Metrical Categories in Infancy and Adulthood