University of Zagreb. Faculty of Education and Rehabilitation Sciences.
Abstract
Starenjem dolazi do opadanja mnogih kognitivnih funkcija, poput pažnje i dugoročnog pamćenja. Smatra se da su jedne od prvih funkcija koje počinju opadati tijekom dobi izvršne funkcije. Stoga je cilj istraživanja bio ispitati dolazi li do opadanja izvršnih funkcija s dobi. Sudionici su bili odrasle osobe bez teškoća koji su bili podijeljeni u dvije skupine. Prvu skupinu čine mlađi odrasli (N=15), a skupinu starijih odraslih čine odrasli srednje i starije životne dobi. Verbalno radno pamćenje ispitano je podljestvicom Pamćenje raspona brojeva WISC-IV testa, a prostorno radno pamćenje, prostorno planiranje, kognitivna fleksibilnost i inhibicija odgovora su ispitane CANTAB baterijom testova. Rezultati pokazuju da stariji odrasli postižu značajno slabije rezultate na varijablama radnog pamćenja, dok razlike na varijablama planiranja, kognitivne fleksibilnosti i inhibicije nisu nađene. Može se zaključiti da se sa starenjem očekuje opadanje radnog pamćenja i inhibicije, međutim ako se isključi brzina obrade razlike se ne nalaze na varijabli inhibicije što je potvrđeno ovim istraživanjem. Proturječni rezultat je nađen jedino na varijabli prostornog planiranja, jer rezultati ostalih istraživanja pokazuju opadanje planiranja s dobi. Ovaj rad naglašava važnost daljnjeg istraživanja izvršnih funkcija posebno na odraslima srednje životne dobi jer se neke razlike u izvršim funkcijama već tada počinju uočavati.With growing age there occurs a decline in many cognitive functions, such as attention and long-term memory. It is believed that one of the first functions that begin to decline with age are executive functions. Therefore the aim of this study was to examine whether there's a decline in executive functions with age. Participants of the conducted study were adults without disabilities who were divided into two groups. The first group included younger adults (N=15) and the second group consisted of middle-aged adults and the elderly (N=11). Verbal working memory was assessed with the subtest Memory for Digit Span of the WISC-IV test. The CANTAB Battery Tests were administered to assess spatial working memory, planning, cognitive flexibility and response inhibition. The results of the research show that older adults achieved significantly lower results on the working memory variables. The differences were not significant for other executive functions: planning, cognitive flexibility and inhibition. In conclusion, it can be expected that with aging there is a decline in working memory and inhibition. However, when the speed of processing is excluded from the results of inhibition the differences are not found on this variable, which was confirmed with this study. While other researches consistently showed that there is a decline in planning with growing age, contradictory results were found with this study showing no differences. Because some of the declines in executive functions can be seen even in middle-aged adults, this study emphasizes the importance of further researches of executive functions in particular on middle-aged adults
