The processing-speed theory of adult age differences in cognition

“In this respect, a decline in the speed of processing due to age-related changes (e.g., Salthouse, 1996; Salthouse & Davis, 2006) was expected among participants for the current study, which could affect the IRAP performance.”

“Information processing speed is central to overall cognition and can impact memory, procedural learning, and overall cognitive performance [28,29].”

“…include cognitive abilities such as processing speed, working memory, inhibitory processes, and verbal fluency as well as linguistic knowledge [Salthouse, 1996; Lyxell et al., 1998; Kronenberger et al., 2014; Payne, 2014; Finke et al., 2016; Winn, 2016; Smith et al., 2019; Zhan et al., 2020].”

“A general decrease in the speed of information processing may result in slower activation of linguistic representations (Salthouse, 1996).”

“This decline is thought to stem from a decrease in executive function [48], processing speed [49], or a combination of both [50].”

“One of these is the general cognitive slowing which occurs with aging [74], which has a strong effect on speech perception: [75] found that declines in speech perception in elderly listeners went above that expected from purely audiometric factors.”

“…the third session, participants completed neuropsychological tests measuring working memory (Backwards Digit Span—BDS; Wechsler, 1997), verbal intelligence (North American Adult Reading Test–NAART; Blair & Spreen, 1989), and processing speed (Digit Symbol Substitution Test--DSST; Salthouse, 1996).”

“Elderly adults show a decline in several cognitive abilities (Royall et al., 2004; Salthouse, 1996; Yakhno et al., 2007).”

“When processing speed becomes slower, some early processed information may fade away in working memory, and this discrepant availability of information may lead to a greater interference effect when parallel information processing is needed in task reconfiguration (Hsieh & Wu, 2010; Salthouse, 1996; Salthouse et al.,…”

“Studies and theories have attributed age and developmental differences to (a) storage capacity (Bayliss, Jarrold, Baddeley, Gunn, & Leigh, 2005; Cowan, 2001), (b) processing speed (Salthouse, 1996), and (c) attention control (Chiappe, Hasher, & Siegel, 2000; Elliot, 2002; Kane, Conway, Hambrick, & Engle, 2008; Redick,…”

“These include a deficit in semantic processing, a failure of metamemory, a failure of deliberate recollection, a reduction in attentional or processing resources (Light, 1991 for a review; Craik & Byrd, 1982) a reduction in processing speed (Salthouse, 1996), and a failure of inhibitory processes (Hasher & Zacks, 1988…”

“…nigra) and fronto-cortical areas (Kumar, Borodowsky, Fernandez, Gonzalez, & Kumar, 2007), and it has been shown that fronto-striatal neuronal circuitry mediates processing speed (e.g., Fellows, Byrd, & Morgello, 2014; Kumar, Ownby, Waldrop-Valverde, Fernandez, & Kumar, 2011; Salthouse, 1996).”

“In line with theories proposing generalized slowing as the primary mechanism of age-related cognitive change [40, 65], processing speed showed the largest decline.”

“As non-decision times depend on speed of sensorimotor preparation, perceptual encoding of stimuli, as well as task-related working memory processes, it is expected that older adults show a disadvantage (e.g., Madden et al., 1993; Salthouse, 1996; Vallesi et al., 2009).”

“RT measures are thought to reflect processing speed, an ability that is known to decline with age (Salthouse, 1996).”

“…stability occurs in vocabulary, semantic memory, and autobiographical memory (Park et al., 2002), whereas age-related decline occurs in processing speed (Salthouse, 1996), working memory and cognitive control (Braver & West, 2008), and visuospatial processing and verbal memory (Park et al., 2002).”

“[22] found a significant relationship between slow reaction time and poor cognitive function.”

“The assessment of information processing speed, which is a key marker of cognitive functioning (Finkel et al., 2007; Lindenberger et al., 1993; Salthouse, 1996), was based on the digit symbol substitution test, a subtest of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS-R; Tewes, 1991).”

“A uthor M anuscript A uthor M anuscript A uthor M anuscript A uthor M anuscript on cognitive and functional performance with age, in line with the processing speed theory of aging (Salthouse, 1996).”

“…of neurological disorders such as dementia) is known to bring a myriad of changes in so-called fluid cognitive functions, including working memory capacity (Caplan & Waters, 1999, 2007; Just & Carpenter, 1992), processing speed (Salthouse, 1996), or inhibitory function (Hasher & Zacks, 1988).”

“Moreover, we focused on processing speed, an important contributor to age differences in cognitive functioning (Salthouse, 1996).”

“The presentation was deliberately slow in order to minimise the influence of processing speed as a confounding variable, since older adults’ processing speed is typically reduced [35].”

“The general slowing theory posits that there is a reduction in the speed of cognitive processing as the individual ages (Salthouse, 1996; Verhaegen & Poncelet, 2013).”

“, seizures (type, frequency) and AEDs (type, dose)) may interact with non-clinical factors such as age, intelligence quotient (IQ), or education level, which are argued to be related to CIPS in healthy populations (2, 15).”

“02) such that participants were more accurate with a shorter delay period, and an interaction between load and maintenance interval (F[1, 11] = 6.”

“If a general slowing ( Myerson, Hale, Wagstaff, Poon, & Smith, 1990 ; Salthouse, 1985, 1996 ) holds, first fixation times and total fixation times for older adults should exceed those for younger adults.”

“In another experiment, Salthouse (1996) demonstrated the evidence of agerelated declines in cognitive task performance (e.”

“These findings corroborate earlier results showing that the accuracy of performing attentionally demanding speech perception tasks can be influenced by higher-order cognitive factors such as attentional load and working memory capacity (Salthouse, 1996; Verhaeghen and De Meersman, 1998; Verhaeghen et al., 2003; Helfer…”

“cognitive factors, such as working memory and attentional/ inhibitory resources(37,38) and general information processing speed.(39) The lack of significant association between hearing”

“Within the ageing literature a decline in processing speed seems to explain many of the cognitive impairments observed in older adults (Salthouse, 1996).”

“AGING, INHIBITION, AND PROCESSING SPEED It is generally agreed that the speed of information processing decreases with increasing age (e.g., Salthouse, 1996, 2004).”

“Contributing factors likely include slower processing speed (Salthouse, 1996, 2000), reduced attentional processing resources (Craik, 2006; McAvinue et al., 2012), loss of inhibitory functions (Darowski, Helder, Zacks, Hasher, & Hambrick, 2008; Peltsch, Hemraj, Garcia, & Munoz, 2011; Zanto, Rubens,…”

“performance [74].”

“Psychomotor speed was measured with the letter and pattern comparison tasks (Salthouse, 1996), the identical pictures test, and the Finding A’s test (Ekstrom, French, Harman, & Dermen, 1976).”

“With normal aging, executive functioning and speed of processing tasks are most sensitive to agerelated decline, while other tasks such as verbal abilities and vocabulary remain fairly stable with age (Park et al., 1996; Salthouse, 1996; Salthouse, 2009; Schaie, 2012; Small, Dixon, & McArdle, 2011).”

“1 3 (Salthouse, 1996), we here explored its relationship with chunking behavior and sequence execution, too.”

“A further aspect in the field of cognitive abilities is the possibility of age-related changes in information processing, which are summarized under the term “general slowing” [85,86].”

“This finding is also in line with the influential theory that the reduced speed of processing during aging leads to impairments in cognitive functioning (Salthouse, 1996).”

“, greater risk of poor health outcomes, limited life span, and fixed incomes), problems accessing information, and cognitive issues, such as reduced processing speed and working memory (Hibbard, Jewett, Engelmann, & Tusler, 1998; Kaiser Family Foundation, 2012; Salthouse, 1996).”

“However, age-based performance decrements on speeded processing tasks decline as involvement of existing knowledge increases which suggests that processing requirements are reduced when information is familiar (Salthouse, 1996).”

“The decline in information processing speed due to aging has also been considered as an influential factor on cognition that could explain cognitive changes in several domains, including those observed in memory and executive functions (Salthouse, 1996).”

“The fact that the older adults’ RT during word encoding were only slightly longer than those of the young may be surprising, given the evidence of global age-related slowing [39–41].”

“Aging is often associated with slowed perceptual processing (Salthouse, 1994, 1996), reduced working memory capacity (Salthouse, 1994; West, 1996), and impaired inhibitory processing (Hasher & Zacks, 1988; Kramer, Humphreys, Larish, & Logan, 1994; Salthouse & Meinz, 1995).”

“There is a clear discrepancy between studies (mostly laboratory-based) finding evidence of decrements in mental functioning from the age of 60 (eg, Bartel, 1990 ; Salthouse, 1996 ; Schaie, 1996 ) and a number of studies showing no age-related downward trend in work abilities and performance (eg, Kakabadse et al, 1998…”

“…concerned about the implications of the SAT for interpretations of RT results obtained in studies, others examined the SAT as an indicator of neural processes (e.g., Osman et al, 2000, Heitz and Schall, 2012, Ho et al, 2012) and changes due to aging (e.g., Salthouse, 1996, Forstmann et al, 2011).”

“One prominent theory that has been proposed to explain some of the age diVerences in performance on many cognitive tasks is the processing speed theory (Salthouse, 1996).”

“Decreases in motor functions of adults are experienced in walking stability, reduced gait speed, and increased falls while decline in working memory and processing speed are main effects of deterioration of cognitive processes [16].”

“There is evidence suggesting that a decline in information processing, working memory, and executive function such as planning and inhibitory control is a result of normal aging (Hasher et al., 2007; Salthouse, 1996).”

“…cognitive processes that are essential for moment-to-moment functioning in everyday life such as visual cognition and short-term (“working”) memory can also be impacted (Salthouse, 1996, 2019; Gregory et al., 2008; Deary et al., 2010; Brown et al., 2012; Harada et al., 2013; Guest et al., 2015).”

“The second is that slow processing reduces the amount of simultaneously available information and that the higher-level processing shuts down without the information supply (Salthouse, 1996).”

“PS entails how rapidly various tasks can be performed, is associated with current or previousMDD, and is foundational for higher functions such as EF (Salthouse, 1996; Porter et al., 2015).”

“Collapsing both retrieval tasks, older adults had slower baseline reaction times than younger adults (t(46)=−3.65, p = .001), consistent with general cognitive slowing (Salthouse, 1996).”

“SAGE-Hindawi Access to Research Journal of Aging Research Volume 2011, Article ID 407074, 8 pages doi:10.4061/2011/407074 Review Article Practice-Oriented Retest Learning as the Basic Form of Cognitive Plasticity of the Aging Brain Lixia Yang Department of Psychology, Ryerson University, JOR823A,…”

“It is not surprising that an overall decline in processing speed was found, as this is consistent with arguments for generalised slowing with age (Salthouse, 1996 ).”

“Furthermore, performance on the Trail Making Test, and many other timed executive measures, are confounded by processing speed and psychomotor speed, which tend to decline with age (Baudouin, Vanneste, & Isingrini, 2004; Ferris, Crook, Sathananthan, & Gershon, 1976; Salthouse, 1996).”

“In fact, the only differential effect between the different groups found in this dependent variable was the expected age-related slowing in processing information (e.g., Salthouse, 1996).”

“, 2014)—but show little to no relationship with a measure of crystallized intelligence, the Shipley— which has been demonstrated not to vary with arousal (Park et al., 2002; Salthouse, 1996; Horn & Cattell, 1967).”

“In those studies, the explained variance associated with WMC is significantly reduced when the speed component is statistically removed (e.g., Salthouse, 1992, 1996).”

“…the lack of conflict between reading and counting is that in the ThetaEEG group, the reduction in processing speed, a characteristic of aging (Salthouse, 1996, 2000; Baltes and Lindenberger, 1997; Verhaeghen et al., 2003), has been more severe, and as a consequence, the subjects did not have…”

“Indeed, it has been suggested that the general age-related cognitive decline is particularly linked to the weakening of executive functioning [32], which comprises a set of different cognitive abilities necessary to plan, organize, execute and monitor actions.”

“Processing speed has also been suggested to be a key capacity in the study of cognitive ageing (Salthouse, 1996; Madden, 2001).”