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Response Time Consistency Is an Indicator of Executive Control Rather than Global Cognitive Ability

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 December 2017

Brandon P. Vasquez ,
Malcolm A. Binns  and
Nicole D. Anderson
Brandon P. Vasquez*
Affiliation:
Rotman Research Institute, Baycrest, Toronto, Canada Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
Malcolm A. Binns
Affiliation:
Rotman Research Institute, Baycrest, Toronto, Canada Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
Nicole D. Anderson
Affiliation:
Rotman Research Institute, Baycrest, Toronto, Canada Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
*
Correspondence and reprint requests to: Brandon P. Vasquez, Neuropsychology & Cognitive Health, Baycrest Health Sciences, 3560 Bathurst Street, Toronto, ON, M6A 2E1. E-mail: [email protected]
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Abstract

Objectives: Intraindividual variability increases with age, but the relative strength of association with cognitive domains is still unclear. The objective of this study was to examine the relation between cognitive domains and the shape and spread of response time (RT) distributions as indexed by intraindividual standard deviation (ISD), and ex-Gaussian parameters (μ, σ, τ). Methods: Healthy adults (40 young [aged 18–30 years], 40 young-old [aged 65–74 years], and 41 old-old [aged 75–85 years]) completed neuropsychological testing and a touch-screen attention task from which ISD and ex-Gaussian parameters were derived. The relation between RT performance and cognitive domains (memory, processing speed, executive functioning) was examined with structural equation modeling (SEM), and the predictive power of RT distribution indices over age was investigated with linear regression. Results:ISD, μ, and τ, but not σ, showed a linear increase with age group. An SEM showed that independent of age, τ was most strongly associated with executive functioning, while μ exhibited less critical associations. Linear regression indicated that μ and τ explained a significant portion of variance in processing speed and executive ability in addition to age group. Memory was more parsimoniously predicted by age, without any significant contribution of ex-Gaussian parameters. Conclusions: The findings suggest that exceptionally slow responses convey attention lapses through wavering of cognitive control, which strongly correspond to executive functioning tests. General slowing and extremely slow responses predicted processing speed and executive performance beyond age group, indicating that RT metrics are sensitive to differences in cognitive ability. (JINS, 2018, 24, 456–465)

Keywords

Intraindividual variabilityEx-GaussianCognitive controlExecutive functionsCognitive domainsAging
Type
Research Articles
Information
Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society , Volume 24 , Issue 5 , May 2018 , pp. 456 - 465
Copyright
Copyright © The International Neuropsychological Society 2017 

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