title: Differences in abstraction ability with age.
abstract: Three tests of abstraction were administered to 89 optimally healthy subjects aged 30-79. Performance on all 3 tasks showed significant differences with age. This was primarily, although not entirely, the result of deficits in performance by the 70-year-old subjects. These results do not appear to be related to changes in memory ability or to a differential increase in a particular type of abstraction error.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston 02114.
authors.forename: M S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Albert
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wolfe
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Lafleche
mesh_terms: D000043:Abstracting and Indexing; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000523:psychology*; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008568:Memory / Q000502:physiology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests