1976 Pages
    by Psychology Press

    Cognitive and biological ageing has become a fast-growing and dynamic area of study and research, and the scale of this acceleration in growth makes this new four-volume collection in the Psychology Press Major Works series, Critical Concepts in Psychology, especially timely.

    A primary question is why we and all other complex animals and plants age, a question studied mainly by biologists, and Volume I (‘Biological Bases of Ageing’) includes key research on models for ethological and evolutionary ageing. It also takes full account of the body of work on the genetics of animal and human ageing and on genes that directly cause, or that interact with environmental influences to cause, individual differences in the rate of age-related changes.

    A quite distinct field of research has been the development of models for cognitive changes in the brain that are based entirely on behavioural evidence. Volume II (‘Cognitive Ageing’) gathers together the most important work on the search for the neuropsychological bases of cognitive ageing and in so doing helps to make sense of the rapid growth of developments in this area.

    The third volume in this collection (‘Relating Cognitive Ageing to Brain Ageing’) makes available the most significant recent research on how the amounts and time-courses of gross age-related changes in local areas of the brain affect cotemporaneous global and local changes in cognitive performance.

    Finally, the material collected in Volume IV (‘The Effects of Health, Demographics and Social Conditions on Rates of Change in Old Age: Interpreting Data from Large Studies’) examines how the methodology of longitudinal studies and cross-sectional studies affects the conclusions that can be reached from each and explores recent statistical models to analyse complex data sets.

    With comprehensive introductions to each volume, newly written by the editor, which places the collected material in historical and scientific context, Psychology of Ageing is destined to be a vital work of reference. It will also be valued by scholars, students, and practitioners as a primary research resource.

    Volume I: Biological Bases of Ageing

    1. Ulman Lindenberger, Hans Scherer, and Paul B. Baltes, ‘The Strong Connection Between Sensory and Cognitive Performance in Old Age: Not Due to Sensory Acuity Reductions Operating During Cognitive Assessment’, Psychology and Aging, 2001, 16, 2, 196–205.

    2. Kaarin J. Anstey, Scott M. Hofer, and Mary A. Luszcz, ‘A Latent Growth Curve Analysis of Late-Life Sensory and Cognitive Function Over 8 Years: Evidence for Specific and Common Factors Underlying Change’, Psychology and Aging, 2003, 18, 4, 714–26.

    3. Arthur Wingfield, Patricia A. Tun, and Sandra L. McCoy, ‘Hearing Loss in Older Adulthood: What it is and How it Interacts with Cognitive Performance’, Current Directions in Psychological Science, 2005, 14, 3, 144–8.

    4. P. M. Rabbitt et al., ‘Balance Marks Cognitive Changes in Old Age Because it Reflects Global Brain Atrophy and Cerebro-Arterial Blood-Flow’, Neuropsychologia, 2006, 44, 10, 1978–83.

    5. M. P. J. van Boxtel et al., ‘Mild Hearing Impairment Can Reduce Verbal Memory Performance in a Healthy Adult Population’, Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology, 2000, 22, 1, 147–54.

    6. Gary A. Borkan and Arthur H. Norris, ‘Biological Age in Adulthood: Comparison of Active and Inactive US Males’, Human Biology, 1980, 52, 787–802.

    7. Peter J. Houx, Fred W. Vreeling, and Jellemer Jolles, ‘Rigorous Health Screening Reduces Age Effects on a Memory Scanning Task’, Brain and Cognition, 1991, 15, 246–60.

    8. Karen Z. H. Li et al., ‘Distractibility, Circadian Arousal, and Aging: A Boundary Condition?’, Psychology and Aging, 1998, 13, 4, 574–83.

    9. David Melzer et al., ‘Profile of Disability in Elderly People: Estimates from a Longitudinal Population Study’, British Medical Journal, 1999, 318, 1108–11.

    10. Martin P. J. van Boxtel et al., ‘The Relation Between Morbidity and Cognitive Performance in a Normal Aging Population’, Journal of Gerontology: Medical Sciences, 1998, 53(A), 2, M147–54.

    11. Helen Christensen et al., ‘The "Common Cause Hypothesis" of Cognitive Aging: Evidence for Not Only a Common Factor But Also for Specific Associations of Age with Vision and Grip Strength in a Cross-Sectional Analysis’, Psychology and Aging, 2001, 16, 4, 588–99.

    12. Jocelyn Faubert, ‘Visual Perception and Aging’, Canadian Journal of Experimental Psychology, 2002, 56, 3, 164–76.

    13. Thomas B. L. Kirkwood, ‘Evolution of Ageing’, Mechanisms of Ageing and Development, 2002, 123, 737–45.

    14. Caleb E. Finch and Gary Ruvkun, ‘The Genetics of Aging’, Annual Review of Genomics and Human Genetics, 2001, 2, 435–62.

    15. Arthur F. Kramer, Kirk I. Erickson, and Stanley J. Colcombe, ‘Exercise, Cognition, and the Aging Brain’, Journal of Applied Physiology, 2006, 101, 1237–42.

    16. Bret H. Goodpaster et al., ‘The Loss of Skeletal Muscle Strength, Mass, and Quality in Older Adults: The Health, Aging and Body Composition Study’, Journal of Gerontology: Medical Sciences, 2006, 61A, 10, 1059–64.

    17. Ulman Lindenberger and Ulrich Pötter, ‘The Complex Nature of Unique and Shared Effects in Hierarchical Linear Regression: Implications for Developmental Psychology’, Psychological Methods, 1998, 3, 2, 218–30.

    18. Christopher B. Rosnick et al., ‘The Association Between Health and Cognitive Performance in a Population-Based Study of Older Adults: The Charlotte County Healthy Aging Study (CCHAS)’, Aging Neuropsychology and Cognition, 2004, 11, 1, 89–99.

    19. Robert L. West, ‘An Application of Prefrontal Cortex Function Theory to Cognitive Aging’, Psychological Bulletin, 120, 2, 1996, 272–92.

    20. Robert West et al., ‘Effects of Time of Day on Age Differences in Working Memory’, Journal of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences, 2002, 57B, 1, 3–10.

    Volume II: Cognitive Ageing

    21. David F. Hultsch, Stuart W. S. MacDonald, and Roger A. Dixon, ‘Variability in Reaction Time Performance of Younger and Older Adults’, Journal of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences, 2002, 57B, 2, 101–15.

    22. Jutta Kray and Ulman Lindenberger, ‘Adult Age Differences in Task Switching’, Psychology and Aging, 2000, 15, 1, 126–47.

    23. Paul Verhaeghen and Timothy A. Salthouse, ‘Meta-Analyses of Age-Cognition Relations in Adulthood: Estimates of Linear and Nonlinear Age Effects and Structural Models’, Psychological Bulletin, 1997, 122, 3, 231–49.

    24. Paul Verhaeghen and John Cerella, ‘Everything we Know about Aging and Response Times: A Meta-Analytic Integration’, in S. M. Hofer and D. F. Alwin (eds.), The Handbook of Cognitive Aging: Interdisciplinary Perspectives (Sage, 2008).

    25. Paul Verhaeghen and John Cerella, ‘Aging, Executive Control, and Attention: A Review of Meta-Analyses’, Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, 2002, 26, 849–57.

    26. Timothy John Perfect, ‘What Can Brinley Plots Tell Us About Cognitive Aging?’, Journal of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences, 1994, 49, 2, 60–4.

    27. John Cerella, ‘Information Processing Rates in the Elderly’, Psychological Bulletin, 1985, 98, 1, 67–83.

    28. Lynn Hasher et al., ‘Age and Inhibition’, Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 1991, 17, 1, 163–9.

    29. Karin M. Butler and Rose T. Zacks, ‘Age Deficits in the Control of Prepotent Responses: Evidence for an Inhibitory Decline’, Psychology and Aging, 2006, 21, 3, 638–43.

    30. Susan Kemper, Ruth E. Herman, and Cindy H. T. Lian, ‘The Costs of Doing Two Things at Once for Young and Older Adults: Talking While Walking, Finger Tapping, and Ignoring Speech or Noise’, Psychology and Aging, 2003, 18, 2, 181–92.

    31. Timothy A. Salthouse, ‘The Processing-Speed Theory of Adult Age Differences in Cognition’, Psychological Review, 1996, 103, 3, 403–28.

    32. Joel Myerson et al., ‘Analysis of Group Differences in Processing Speed: Brinley Plots, Q-Q Plots, and Other Conspiracies’, Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 2003, 10, 1, 224–37.

    33. Roger Ratcliff, Daniel Spieler, and Gail McKoon, ‘Explicitly Modeling the Effects of Aging on Response Time’, Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 2000, 7, 1, 1–25.

    34. Arthur D. Fisk and Donald L. Fisher, ‘Brinley Plots and Theories of Aging: The Explicit, Muddled, and Implicit Debates’, Journal of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences, 1994, 49, 2, 81–9.

    35. Sy-Miin Chow and John R. Nesselroade, ‘General Slowing or Decreased Inhibition? Mathematical Models of Age Differences in Cognitive Functioning’, Journal of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences, 2004, 59B, 3, 101–9.

    36. Daniel H. Spieler, David A. Balota, and Mark E. Faust, ‘Levels of Selective Attention Revealed Through Analyses of Response Time Distributions’, Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 2000, 26, 2, 506–26.

    37. Leigh M. Riby, Timothy J. Perfect, and Brian T. Stollery, ‘The Effects of Age and Task Domain on Dual Task Performance: A Meta-Analysis’, European Journal of Cognitive Psychology, 2004, 16, 6, 863–91.

    38. Patrick Rabbitt et al., ‘Effects of Global Atrophy, White Matter Lesions, and Cerebral Blood Flow on Age-Related Changes in Speed, Memory, Intelligence, Vocabulary, and Frontal Function’, Neuropsychology, 2007, 21, 6, 684–95.

    39. Martin Sliwinski and Herman Buschke, ‘Cross-Sectional and Longitudinal Relationships Among Age, Cognition, and Processing Speed’, Psychology and Aging, 1999, 14, 1, 18–33.

    40. Nilam Ram et al., ‘Cognitive Performance Inconsistency: Intraindividual Change and Variability’, Psychology and Aging, 2005, 20, 4, 623–33.

    Volume III: Relating Cognitive Ageing to Brain Ageing

    41. Cheryl L. Grady and Fergus I. M. Craik, ‘Changes in Memory Processing with Age’, Current Opinion in Neurobiology, 2000, 10, 224–31.

    42. Fergus I. M. Craik and Mark Byrd, ‘Aging and Cognitive Deficits: The Role of Attentional Resources’, Aging & Cognitive Processes, 1982, 191–211.

    43. John S. McIntyre and Fergus I. M. Craik, ‘Age Differences in Memory for Item and Source Information’, Canadian Journal of Psychology, 1987, 41, 2, 175–92.

    44. Susan Kemper and Aaron Sumner, ‘The Structure of Verbal Abilities in Young and Older Adults’, Psychology and Aging, 2001, 16, 2, 312–22.

    45. Gillian Cohen, Martin A. Conway, and Elizabeth A. Maylor, ‘Flashbulb Memories in Older Adults’, Psychology and Aging, 1994, 9, 3, 454–63.

    46. Timothy J. Perfect and Zubeida R. R. Dasgupta, ‘What Underlies the Deficit in Reported Recollective Experience in Old Age?’, Memory & Cognition, 1997, 25, 6, 849–58.

    47. Rose T. Zacks, Gabriel Radvansky, and Lynn Hasher, ‘Studies of Directed Forgetting in Older Adults’, Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 1996, 22, 1, 143–56.

    48. Neil Charness, ‘Aging and Skilled Problem-Solving’, Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 1981, 110, 1, 21–38.

    49. Neil Charness et al., ‘Word-Processing Training and Retraining: Effects of Adult Age, Experience, and Interface’, Psychology and Aging, 2001, 16, 1, 110–27.

    50. Mark E. Faust, David A. Balota, and Daniel H. Spieler, ‘Building Episodic Connections: Changes in Episodic Priming with Age and Dementia’, Neuropsychology, 2001, 15, 4, 626–37.

    51. John L. Horn, ‘The Theory of Fluid and Crystallised Intelligence in Relation to Concepts of Cognitive Psychology and Aging in Adulthood’, in F. I. M. Craik and S. Trehub (eds.), Aging and Cognition Processes (Plenum Press, 1982), pp. 237–78.

    52. Fergus I. M. Craik and Robert S. Lockhart, ‘Levels of Processing: A Framework for Memory Research’, Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 1972, 11, 671–84.

    53. Gilles O. Einstein and Mark A. McDaniel, ‘Prospective Memory: Multiple Retrieval Processes’, Current Directions in Psychological Science, 2005, 14, 6, 286–90.

    54. Leah L. Light and Asha Singh, ‘Implicit and Explicit Memory in Young and Older Adults’, Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 1987, 13, 4, 531–41.

    55. David B. Mitchell and Peter J. Bruss, ‘Age Differences in Implicit Memory: Conceptual, Perceptual, or Methodological?’, Psychology and Aging, 2003, 18, 4, 807–22.

    56. Mark A. McDaniel et al., ‘Aging and Maintaining Intentions Over Delays: Do it or Lose it’, Psychology and Aging, 2003, 18, 4, 823–35.

    57. Dorthe Berntsen and David C. Rubin, ‘Emotionally Charged Autobiographical Memories Across the Life Span: The Recall of Happy, Sad, Traumatic, and Involuntary Memories’, Psychology and Aging, 2002, 17, 4, 636–52.

    58. Dorthe Berntsen and David C. Rubin, ‘Cultural Life Scripts Structure Recall from Autobiographical Memory’, Memory & Cognition, 2004, 32, 3, 427–42.

    59. Elizabeth L. Glisky, Susan R. Rubin, and Patrick S. R. Davidson, ‘Source Memory in Older Adults: An Encoding or Retrieval Problem?’, Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 2003, 27, 5, 1131–46.

    Volume IV: The Effects of Health, Demographics, and Social Conditions on Rates of Change in Old Age: Interpreting Data from Large Studies

    60. Hannie C. Comijs et al., ‘The Association Between Depressive Symptoms and Cognitive Decline in Community-Dwelling Elderly Persons’, International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 2001, 16, 361–7.

    61. Martin Lövdén, Paolo Ghisletta, and Ulman Lindenberger, ‘Cognition in the Berlin Aging Study (BASE): The First 10 Years’, Aging Neuropsychology and Cognition, 2004, 11, 2–3, 104–33.

    62. Lars Bäckman, Brent J. Small, and Laura Fratiglioni, ‘Stability of the Preclinical Episodic Memory Deficit in Alzheimer’s Disease’, Brain, 2001, 124, 96–102.

    63. John J. McArdle et al., ‘Longitudinal Models of Growth and Survival Applied to the Early Detection of Alzheimer’s Disease’, Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry and Neurology, 2005, 18, 4, 234–41.

    64. Brent J. Small et al., ‘Apolipoprotein E and Cognitive Performance: A Meta-Analysis’, Psychology and Aging, 2004, 19, 4, 592–600.

    65. Martha Storandt et al., ‘Longitudinal Course and Neuropathologic Outcomes in Original versus Revised MCI and in Pre-MCI’, Neurology, 2006, 67, 467–73.

    66. K. Warner Schaie, ‘Perceptual Speed in Adulthood: Cross-Sectional and Longitudinal Studies’, Psychology and Aging, 1989, 4, 443–53.

    67. K. Warner Schaie, Sherry L. Willis, and Sara Pennak, ‘An Historical Framework for Cohort Differences in Intelligence’, Research in Human Development, 2005, 2, 1 & 2, 43–67.

    68. Christopher Hertzog and John R. Nesselroade, ‘Assessing Psychological Change in Adulthood: An Overview of Methodological Issues’, Psychology and Aging, 2003, 18, 4, 639–57.

    69. P. M. A. Rabbitt et al., ‘The University of Manchester Longitudinal Study of Cognition in Normal Healthy Old Age, 1983 through 2003’, Aging Neuropsychology and Cognition, 2004, 11, 2–3, 245–79.

    70. K. Warner Schaie and Paul B. Baltes, ‘On Sequential Strategies in Developmental Research: Description or Explanation’, Human Development, 1975, 18, 5, 384–90.

    71. Brent J. Small et al., ‘Terminal Decline and Cognitive Performance in Very Old Age: Does Cause of Death Matter?’, Psychology and Aging, 2003, 18, 2, 193–202.

    72. Stephen W. Raudenbush, ‘Comparing Personal Trajectories and Drawing Causal Inferences from Longitudinal Data’, Annual Review of Psychology, 2001, 52, 501–25.

    73. Naftali Raz et al., ‘Regional Brain Changes in Aging Healthy Adults: General Trends, Individual Differences and Modifiers’, Cerebral Cortex, 2005, 15, 1676–89.

    74. Naftali Raz, Karen M. Rodrigue, and James D. Acker, ‘Hypertension and the Brain: Vulnerability of the Prefrontal Regions and Executive Functions’, Behavioral Neuroscience, 2003, 117, 6, 1169–80.

    75. Karen M. Rodrigue and Naftali Raz, ‘Shrinkage of the Entorhinal Cortex Over Five Years Predicts Memory Performance in Healthy Adults’, The Journal of Neuroscience, 2004, 24, 4, 956–63.

    76. David J. Madden et al., ‘Adult Age Differences in the Functional Neuroanatomy of Verbal Recognition Memory’, Human Brain Mapping, 1999, 7, 20, 115–35.

    77. Cheryl L. Grady, ‘Functional Brain Imaging and Age-Related Changes in Cognition’, Biological Psychology, 2000, 54, 1–3, 259–81.

    Biography

    Patrick Rabbitt is Honorary Research Fellow in the Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, UK.

    PhD (Experimental Psychology), Cambridge, 1963.

    Scientific Staff, Medical Research Council Applied Psychology Research Unit, 1962–8.

    University Lecturer in Psychology and Fellow, The Queen’s College Oxford, 1968–82.

    Professor of Psychology and Head, Department of Psychology, University of Durham, 1982–3.

    Research Chair in Cognitive Psychology and Gerontology, Director Age and Cognitive Performance Research Centre University of Manchester, 1983–2004.

    Emeritus Professor Manchester, 2004–

    Adjunct Chair in Psychology University of Western Australia, 1991–2004.

    Honorary Research Fellow, Department of Psychology, University of Western Australia, 2004–