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Age differences in cognitive performance: A study of cultural differences in Historical Context
Author(s) -
Ojeda Natalia,
Aretouli Eleni,
Peña Javier,
Schretlen David J.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
journal of neuropsychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.85
H-Index - 37
eISSN - 1748-6653
pISSN - 1748-6645
DOI - 10.1111/jnp.12059
Subject(s) - psychology , neuropsychology , ethnic group , cognition , affect (linguistics) , perception , context (archaeology) , developmental psychology , cognitive psychology , social psychology , anthropology , sociology , history , communication , archaeology , neuroscience
Ethnicity and cultural experience can affect neuropsychological performance, but they are rarely assessed in historical context. Attention measures are considered strongly biologically determined and therefore potentially culture‐fair. In this study, we assessed the cross‐cultural equivalence of S panish and E nglish versions of the T rail M aking T est ( TMT ; Reitan, 1958, Perceptual and Motor Skills , 8 , 271–276) and the B rief T est of A ttention ( BTA ; Schretlen et al ., 1996, The Clinical Neuropsychologist , 10 , 80–89) in two large samples of A mericans ( N = 203) and S paniards ( N = 213), divided into younger and older subgroups. The older S paniards lived under F ranco's political regime (1936–1975), whereas the A mericans never experienced such repression. Overall, TMT performance was culture‐sensitive, whereas BTA performance was not. However, when both groups were stratified by age, cultural differences in TMT performance were restricted to older participants, suggesting that historical experience across generations might have contributed to the observed differences in cognitive performance. Even such basic cognitive processes as attention, working memory, and resource sharing might be shaped to some degree by historical experiences that contribute to cultural differences.