TESTING THE HYPOTHESIS OF “RETROGENESIS” VIA THE COMPARISON OF THE LATENT STRUCTURE OF "ATHENA" TEST AMONG TYPICALLY DEVELOPING YOUNG CHILDREN AND MENTALLY HEALTHY OLDER ADULTS: A PRELIMINARY STUDY

The aim of this study was the comparison of the general cognitive ability (g), among typically developing young children and mentally healthy older adults, by exploring possible differentiations in the latent structure of Athena Test (AT; Paraskevopoulos, Kalantzi-Azizi, & Giannitsas, 1999) across the age sub-groups of the sample. The sample consisted of 42 kindergarten students, 56 elementary school students, 118 new-old adults and 27 old-old adults. The participants were administered a short version of AT including six of its 15 sub-tests. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), applying to the data of the total sample and the subgroup of the new-old adults, showed that the six measured variables of AT are organized on a single factor. For the subgroups of the old-old adults and the elementary school students, a single-factor latent structure with five measured variables was verified. CFA applying to the data of the subgroup of kindergarten students failed to confirm a pattern of AT latent structure. The results support the hypothesis of “retrogenesis” since they reflect a delay in the development of neuropsychological maturity skills for the young students and the beginning of decline/regression of these skills for the old-old adults.