Centre for Policy on Ageing



Accounting for age differences on the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test — decreased working memory, not inflexibility
Author(s)	Marilyn Hartman, Elisa Bolton, Sheri E Fehnel
Journal title	Psychology and Aging, vol 16, no 3, September 2001
Pages	pp 385-399
Keywords	Memory and Reminiscence ; Mental ageing ; Age groups [elderly] ; Young adults [20-25] ; Evaluation.
Annotation	Two experiments examined the role of cognitive inflexibility and reduced working memory in age-related declines on the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test. Both standard scoring procedures and newly developed scores were used to measure each construct, and modifications of the test further evaluated the role of working memory. Results indicated that age differences are not due to cognitive inflexibility, but that for a subset of older people, errors are associated with a reduction in the amount of information that can be stored or processed in working memory. These age differences disappear, however, when visual cues provide information about the immediately preceding sort. The authors conclude by proposing a decline in updating working memory as the explanation that can best account for the entire pattern of age differences in this test. (RH).
Accession Number	CPA-020111227 A
Classmark	DB: D6: BB: SD6: 4C
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...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing.