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Reading ability mediates the relationship between education and executive function tasks

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 January 2006

AMANDA SCHAFER JOHNSON ,
LISA J. FLICKER  and
PETER A. LICHTENBERG
AMANDA SCHAFER JOHNSON
Affiliation:
Institute of Gerontology, Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan
LISA J. FLICKER
Affiliation:
Institute of Gerontology, Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan
PETER A. LICHTENBERG
Affiliation:
Institute of Gerontology, Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan
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Abstract

Neuropsychological test results are affected by multiple factors, but usually age and education are the only variables by which norms are stratified. Some authors have questioned whether these variables alone are sufficient (e.g., Marcopulos et al., 1997; Manly et al., 2002), since such norms have lead to problems, such as poor specificity for African Americans on dementia screening devices (Fillenbaum et al., 1990). Recent research has shown that reading ability, a measure of educational quality, attenuated racial differences in test performance (Manly et al., 2002). We specifically examined whether reading ability would account for a greater amount of variance than education in executive function tests in a population traditionally subject to poor educational quality. Results determined that reading ability accounted for a significantly greater amount of variance than years of education for Letter-Number Sequencing, Similarities, COWA, Trail Making Test, and Coloured Progressive Matrices. Reading ability was found to significantly mediate the relationship between each of these tests and education. Animal naming appears to be least affected by educational quality or quantity. These findings hold implications for the interpretation of neuropsychological test results, especially in those exposed to substandard educational quality, and for the way that test norms are constructed. (JINS, 2006, 12, 64–71.)

Keywords

LiteracyDementiaNormsEducational qualityAfrican AmericansAged
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society , Volume 12 , Issue 1 , January 2006 , pp. 64 - 71
Copyright
© 2006 The International Neuropsychological Society

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