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PubMed2000

Relationships among processing speed, working memory, and fluid intelligence in children.

The present review focuses on three issues, (a) the time course of developmental increases in cognitive abilities; (b) the impact of age on individual differences in these abilities, and (c) the mechanisms by which developmental increases in different aspects of cognition affect each other. We conclude from our review of the literature that the development of processing speed, working memory, and fluid intelligence, all follow a similar time course, suggesting that all three abilities develop in concert. Furthermore, the strength of the correlation between speed and intelligence does not appear to change with age, and most of the effect of the age-related increase in speed on intelligence appears to be mediated through the effect of speed on working memory. Finally, most of the effect of the age-related improvement in working memory on intelligence is itself attributable to the effect of the increase in speed on working memory, providing evidence of a cognitive developmental cascade.

Child↗

PubMed1998

Attention and mental processing speed in hemodialysis patients.

It has remained unclear whether well-dialyzed patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) show persisting neurocognitive deficits, especially in tasks that depend on sustained attention or psychomotor speed. We administered a battery of six attentional measures to 10 stable hemodialysis (HD) patients (age, 61+/-16 years; education, 12.4+/-3.8 years; Kt/V, 1.35+/-0.07) and 10 matched controls with normal renal function (age, 62+/-10 years; education, 11.6+/-1.0 years; estimated creatinine clearance, 92+/-25 mL/min). Results of the Trailmaking Test, Paced Auditory Serial Addition Test, Stroop Test, Digit Span, Continuous Performance Test (CPT), and Gordon Diagnostic System did not differ between groups. We conclude it is unlikely that well-dialyzed patients with ESRD manifest significant uremic neurocognitive deficits in the functional spheres related to sustained attention or mental processing speed.

Attention↗

PubMed2004

Computerized cognitive remediation improves verbal learning and processing speed in schizophrenia.

Computerized cognitive remediation has resulted in improved executive function in schizophrenia, whereas results with regard to verbal memory were inconsistent. In the present study, 42 inpatients with schizophrenia were randomly assigned to a computerized cognitive remediation group or to a treatment-as-usual (TAU) control group. The remediation group received 15 sessions of computerized cognitive training (Cogpack) over a 3-week period. Neurocognitive functions were assessed at the beginning and end of this period. Compared to the control condition, remediation training resulted in improvements in verbal learning, processing speed and executive function (verbal fluency). The results indicate that cognitive remediation may lead to improvements beyond those of executive function.

Adult↗

PubMed1999

Prediction of severity of brain damage by a processing speed variable in older children: a brief report.

This paper reports an attempt to predict severity of brain damage, as reflected by neuropsychological test scores, based on subtests of Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised Factor analytic derived indices were compared with the Neuropsychological Deficit Scale for Older Children. A sample of 20 normal and heterogeneously brain-damaged children (12 males and eight females) aged 9-14, who have been administered the complete Halstead-Reitan Neuropsychological Test Battery for Older Children, were selected from case records. The hit rates obtained for agreement on level of severity with the Older Children's Neuropsychological Deficit Score was best for Processing Speed (70%), worst for Freedom from Distraction (45%), and intermediate for Perceptual Organization (65%) and Verbal Comprehension (55%).

Adolescent↗

PubMed2004

Information processing and reasoning with premises that are empirically false: interference, working memory, and processing speed.

In this study, we looked at the contributions of individual differences in susceptibility to interference and working memory to logical reasoning with premises that were empirically false (i.e., not necessarily true). A total of 97 university students were given a sentence completion task for which a subset of stimuli was designed to generate inappropriate semantic activation that interfered with the correct response, a measure of working memory capacity, and a series of logical reasoning tasks with premises that were not always true. The results indicate that susceptibility to interference, as measured by the error rate on the relevant subset of the sentence completion task, and working memory independently account for variation in reasoning performance. The participants who made more errors in the relevant portion of the sentence completion task also showed more empirical intrusions in the deductive reasoning task, even when the effects of working memory were partialed out. Working memory capacity was more clearly related to processes involved in generating uncertainty responses to inferences for which there was no certain conclusion. A comparison of the results of this study with studies of children's reasoning suggests that adults are capable of more selective executive processes than are children. An analysis of latency measures on the sentence completion task indicated that high working memory participants who made no errors on the sentence completion task used a strategy that involved slower processing speed, as compared with participants with similar levels of working memory who did make errors. In contrast, low working memory participants who made no errors on the sentence completion task had relatively shorter reaction times than did comparable participants who did make errors.

Adult↗

PubMed2005

Processing speed, executive function, and age differences in remembering and knowing.

A group of young (n = 52, M = 23.27 years) and old (n = 52, M = 68.62 years) adults studied two lists of semantically unrelated nouns. For one list a time of 2 s was allowed for encoding, and for the other, 5 s. A recognition test followed where participants classified their responses according to Gardiner's (1988) remember-know procedure. Age differences for remembering and knowing were minimal in the faster 2-s encoding condition. However, in the longer 5-s encoding condition, younger persons produced significantly more remember responses, and older adults a greater number of know responses. This dissociation suggests that in the longer encoding condition, younger adults utilized a greater level of elaborative rehearsal governed by executive processes, whereas older persons employed maintenance rehearsal involving short-term memory. Statistical control procedures, however, found that independent measures of processing speed accounted for age differences in remembering and knowing and that independent measures of executive control had little influence. The findings are discussed in the light of contrasting theoretical accounts of recollective experience in old age.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2004

Sustained attention and visual processing speed in children and adolescents with bipolar disorder and other psychiatric disorders.

To investigate the cognitive functioning of children and adolescents with bipolar illness, 112 child and adolescent psychiatric inpatients and day-hospital patients at a state psychiatric hospital were administered the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-III (WISC-III) as part of an admission psychological assessment. There were 22 patients with Bipolar Disorder and 90 with other psychiatric disorders; all were between 8 and 17 years of age. The patients with Bipolar Disorder had a mean age of 14 yr., a mean Verbal IQ of 78, a mean Performance IQ of 76, and a mean Full Scale IQ of 75. When their WISC-III scores were compared with those who had Schizophrenia Spectrum disorders (Schizophrenia and Schizoaffective Disorder), Psychosis Not Otherwise Specified, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, and Conduct Disorder and Oppositional Defiant Disorder, there were no significant between-group mean differences for Verbal IQ, but patients with Bipolar Disorder had a significantly lower mean Performance IQ than those with ADHD and those with Conduct Disorder and Oppositional Defiant Disorder. Contrary to the expectation that the patients with Bipolar Disorder might have better sustained attention (higher Digit Span scores) than those with Schizophrenia Spectrum disorders and worse visual processing speed (lower Coding scores) than the other diagnostic groups, the bipolar patients' Digit Span and Coding scores did not differ significantly from those of the other groups. The patients with Psychosis, Not Otherwise Specified had significantly lower mean Performance IQ, Full Scale IQ, and Coding than the ADHD and the Conduct Disorder and Oppositional Disorder groups.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1994

[3D-CT of the temporal bone area with high-speed processing].

Three-dimentional (3D)-CT was introduced to represent abnormal findings in the temporal bone area utilizing a SOMATOM DRH CT scanner with accessory 3D reconstruction software and an exclusive high-speed 3D processing system, VOXEL FLINGER. In a patient with eosinophilic granuloma, a defect in the squamous part of the temporal bone was demonstrated suggesting exposure of the dura mater during surgery. In a patient with a normal ear, well-developed mastoid cavity, a part of the handle and the head of the malleus, the incudomalleal joint, the short limb, body and a part of the long limb of the incus and the round window niche were demonstrated. In a case of chronic otitis media, poorly developed mastoid cavity and a possible defect of the tip of the long limb of the incus were demonstrated, in contrast to the patient with the normal ear. 3D-CT yields objective and solid images which are useful for diagnosis, treatment planning and explanation of the pathology to patients and their family. To obtain convincing 3D images, physicians themselves have to choose exact rotation angles. It is not adequate to reconstruct original CT data using a CT computer with accessory 3D software whose processing capability is not good enough for this purpose. The conclusion is as follows: 1) it is necessary and effective to transfer original CT data into the memory of the exclusive high-speed 3D processing system and 2) process the data by the voxel memory method to establish a clinically valuable 3D-CT imaging system.

Adult↗

PubMed1997

Sex differences in phonetic processing: speed of identification of alphabetical sequences.

Research on the sex difference in speed of matching strings of letters or digits has suggested that the difference is associated with the speed of the comparison and decision processes rather than with symbol recognition. In addition, the size of the difference is affected by whether the code used for the comparisons is figural or verbal. Given recent evidence on both the critical role of phonological processing in reading and sex differences in the lateralization of phonological processes in the brain, it was hypothesized that on a speeded task with high demands for phonological efficiency sex differences might be found even though no perceptual comparisons were required. In a study with 57 male and 60 female college students, the women were significantly faster in identifying alphabetical sequences and were more accurate than men. There were no significant sex differences on a perceptual matching condition. The results suggest that the verbal processes implicated in earlier work on sex differences in speed of symbol matching may be primarily due to sex differences in the efficiency of phonological processing.

Adult↗

PubMed1999

Cognitive processing speed in Lyme disease.

OBJECTIVE: The goal of this study was to more precisely define the nature of the cognitive processing deficits in the patients with Lyme disease. BACKGROUND: Lyme disease has been associated with cognitive disturbances. METHOD: Sixteen patients who met the Centers for Disease Control's case definition for Lyme disease and 15 age- and education-matched control subjects completed two computerized assessments. The first was a matching procedure that assessed perceptual/motor speed. The second task was an alphabet-arithmetic (AA) test that measured the speed of mental arithmetic. On the matching task, subjects judged as true or false simple identity equations (e.g., B + 0 = B). On the AA task, subjects indicated the veracity of equations of the same form as those of the matching task but which required mental arithmetic (e.g., A + 3 = D). The use of this paradigm permits sensory or motor slowing to be distinguished from slowed cognitive processing speed. Also, the tests do not involve automated or overlearned responses. RESULTS: Lyme disease patients and healthy controls did not differ in perceptual/motor speed. However, Lyme disease patients' response times were significantly longer than those of healthy controls during the AA task, demonstrating specific impairments in mental activation speed. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that Lyme disease patients show specific deficits when initiating a cognitive process. These impairments are independent of sensory, perceptual, or motor deficits.

Adult↗

PubMed1993

Influence of task-specific processing speed on age differences in memory.

Two studies were conducted to investigate the aspect(s) of processing involved in the hypothesized speed mediation of adult age differences in memory. Both studies involved a serial memory task in which information was to be recalled either in the original order of presentation, or in a reordered sequence. Results from both studies indicated that task-specific processing durations were slower among older adults than among young adults, but that the attenuation of the age-related variance in memory was nearly as great after statistical control of a task-independent speed measure as after control of task-specific speed measures. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that a substantial proportion of the adult age-related differences in memory is associated with a decrease with increased age in the speed of executing many cognitive processes, and not simply the speed of one or two specific processes.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2004

Is speed of processing or working memory the primary information processing deficit in multiple sclerosis?

OBJECTIVE: To examine whether processing speed or working memory is the primary information processing deficit in persons with MS. DESIGN: Case-control study. SETTING: Hospital-based specialty clinic. PARTICIPANTS: 215 adults with clinically definite MS. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Mean demographically corrected T-scores, prevalence rates of impairment and relative risk of impaired Processing Speed and Working Memory Index Scores from the WAIS-WMS III. RESULTS: Deficits in Processing Speed were much more common than Working Memory in all comparisons. This was observed for both relapsing remitting (RRMS) and secondary progressive MS (SPMS) subjects, but accentuated in the latter group. CONCLUSIONS: Results strongly suggest that the primary information processing deficit in persons with MS is in speed of processing.

Adult↗

PubMed2003

The Adult Memory and Information Processing Battery (AMIPB) test of information-processing speed: a study of its reliability and feasibility in patients with multiple sclerosis.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate how useful the Adult Memory and Information Processing Battery Task A (AMIPB) is as a test of the speed of information processing in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) by comparing various methods of presenting the test and assessing the reliability (test-retest and inter-rater) and utility of each version. DESIGN: Each patient was assessed twice verbally by the same assessor 1-2 weeks apart. Then 1-2 weeks later half were assessed by another observer, and half were assessed by the first observer using a written method. SETTING: A specialist young disabled unit. SUBJECTS: Thirty-three patients with MS. MEASURES: The AMIPB, the Short Memory-Orientation-Concentration Test (SOMC) and the Barthel ADL Index. RESULTS: The average (SD) number of correct responses after 4 min was 23.3 (18.6), median 21. The test-retest reliability (n = 24) of the 4-min AMIPB was high (r = 0.98) and the difference of the score ranged from -7 to 9: median 3, mean (SD) 1.88 (4.01) and interquartile range 0 to 3.25. The inter-observer reliability (n = 12) of the 4-min AMIPB was also high (r = 0.97) and the mean (SD) differences between scores were 4.3 (5.8), median 4, range +19 to -2. The score at 60 seconds and the score at 240 seconds were highly correlated (r = 0.98). The scores obtained verbally and by writing were closely correlated (r = 0.99). CONCLUSIONS: The AMIPB used over 120 seconds with verbal responses is a reliable and reasonable test for major information-processing deficits.

Adult↗

PubMed2005

Ultra-rapid object detection with saccadic eye movements: visual processing speed revisited.

Previous ultra-rapid go/no-go categorization studies with manual responses have demonstrated the remarkable speed and efficiency with which humans process natural scenes. Using a forced-choice saccade task we show here that when two scenes are simultaneously flashed in the left and right hemifields, human participants can reliably make saccades to the side containing an animal in as little as 120 ms. Low level differences between target and distractor images were unable to account for these exceptionally fast responses. The results suggest a very fast and unexpected route linking visual processing in the ventral stream with the programming of saccadic eye movements.

Adult↗

PubMed1999

Sex differences in phonological processes: speeded matching and word reading.

Sex differences in phonological processing were investigated in four experiments. Two experiments required college students to decide whether two five-letter strings matched. Same-case (AA) pairs of letter strings could be matched using physical features, whereas mixed-case (Aa) pairs of letter strings required the mediation of a speech-based code (letter name) for the comparison. Women were significantly faster than men when the comparisons required the speech-based codes. In another experiment, college students read lists of words and lists of pseudohomophones to determine whether there was a sex difference in the computation of phonology for unfamiliar words (assembled phonology). In a final experiment, students read lists of words with phonologically inconsistent spelling patterns to determine whether there was a sex difference in accessing pronunciations of familiar words (addressed phonology). Women were more proficient than men under both of these conditions. Results were interpreted in terms of a female advantage in both prelexical and lexical processing, an advantage that may stem from a sex difference in the quality of the phonological representations.

Adult↗

PubMed2001

Is processing speed related to severity of language impairment?

Children with specific language impairment (SLI) typically respond more slowly on many tasks than do their typically developing peers. This paper addresses the question of whether speed of response is linearly related to severity of language impairment as measured by standardized test score. To address this question, we performed post hoc analyses of data from a study on lexical processing involving 66 children with SLI (mean age 6 years 9 months) and 66 typically developing children matched for age and nonverbal IQ. Response times derived from a series of tasks were correlated with language test scores. None of the Pearson correlations reached significance when corrected for number of correlations run, nor did a canonical correlation analysis reach significance. If these results are replicated in other studies, then they suggest that there is no direct linear relation between speed of processing and severity of language impairment as it is estimated from scores on standardized tests of language.

Child↗

PubMed2006

Attention speeds processing across eccentricity: feature and conjunction searches.

We investigated whether the effect of covert attention on information accrual varies with eccentricity (4 degrees vs 9 degrees) and the complexity of the visual search task (feature vs conjunction). We used speed-accuracy tradeoff procedures to derive conjoint measures of the speed of information processing and accuracy in each search task. Information processing was slower with more complex conjunction searches than with simpler feature searches, and overall it was faster at peripheral (9 degrees) than parafoveal (4 degrees) locations in both search types. Covert attention increased discriminability and accelerated information accrual at both eccentricities, and the magnitude of this attentional effect was the same for both feature (simple) and conjunction (complex) searches. Interestingly, in contrast to the compensatory effect of covert attention on information processing at iso-eccentric locations (temporal performance fields), covert attention did not eliminate speed differences across eccentricity.

Attention↗

PubMed2000

Age and individual differences in visuospatial processing speed: testing the magnification hypothesis.

Forty young adults and 40 older adults performed seven visuospatial information processing tasks. Factor analyses of the response times (RTs) yielded a single principal component with a similar composition in both age samples. For both samples, regressing the mean RTs of fast and slow subgroups for the seven tasks (18 conditions) on the corresponding mean RTs for their age group accounted for 99% of the variance. Taken together, these findings suggest that individual differences in processing time were largely task independent. The magnification hypothesis, a simple mathematical model of the interaction between age and ability, is presented. This model correctly predicts the finding that in both the young and the older adult groups, individual differences increased systematically with task difficulty. The magnification hypothesis also explains the regression parameters describing individual differences among young adults and predicts correctly that equivalent parameters describe individual differences among older adults. According to the magnification hypothesis, the RTs of slower individuals are more affected by aging than those of faster individuals, and slower individuals may be more at risk with respect to other biological insults (e.g., changes in health status) as well.

Adult↗