Monograph One: Too Old to Learn?

Teacher Training Reading Syllabus Monograph One: Too Old to Learn? by Jack Botwinick and Husain Qazilbash in August of 1971

Onset of Mild Cognitive Impairment in Parkinson Disease

Objective: Characterize the onset and timing of cognitive decline in Parkinson disease (PD) from the first recognizable stage of cognitively symptomatic PD-mild cognitive impairment (PD-MCI) to PD dementia (PDD). Thirty-nine participants progressed from PD to PDD and 25 remained cognitively normal. Methods: Bayesian-estimated disease-state models described the onset of an individual’s cognitive decline across 12 subtests with a change point. Results: Subtests measuring working memory, visuospatial processing ability, and crystalized memory changed significantly 3 to 5 years before their first nonzero Clinical Dementia Rating and progressively worsened from PD to PD-MCI to PDD. Crystalized memory deficits were the hallmark feature of imminent conversion of cognitive status. Episodic memory tasks were not sensitive to onset of PD-MCI. For cognitively intact PD, all 12 subtests showed modest linear decline without evidence of a change point. Conclusions: Longitudinal disease-state models support a prodromal dementia stage (PD-MCI) marked by early declines in working memory and visuospatial processing beginning 5 years before clinical diagnosis of PDD. Cognitive declines in PD affect motor ability (bradykinesia), working memory, and processing speed (bradyphrenia) resulting in PD-MCI where visuospatial imagery and memory retrieval deficits manifest before eventual development of overt dementia. Tests of episodic memory may not be sufficient to detect and quantify cognitive decline in PD

Age Differences in Self-Ratings of Confidence

The hypothesis of decreased self-confidence in later life was tested by comparing self-ratings of 18 elderly and young adult Ss ( Ns = 40, 18) with two questionnaires. When specific information was involved, old and young were similar with respect to confidence in the correctness of response. When judgments about oneself were involved, the older Ss indicated more self-confidence than the young, not less. The relation between age and confidence seems to be a matter of context. </jats:p