title: The effects of age, sex and Alzheimer's disease on strategy use during verbal fluency tasks.
abstract: Clustering and switching strategies during phonemic and semantic verbal fluency tasks were investigated in healthy adults (n = 193, 86 males, 20-90 years) in young, middle-aged, young-old, and old-old age groups (Study 1). Older groups produced fewer total words and lower switching scores; males relied more on clustering and females on switching to produce equivalent output. In Study 2, early Alzheimer's disease participants, compared to healthy older adults, (n = 26 per group) produced fewer total words and smaller average clusters. Sex, age, and clinical differences on switching and clustering strategies support a dual processing model of verbal fluency.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. Nicole.haugrud@usask.ca
authors.forename: Nicole
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Haugrud
authors.forename: Shawnda
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lanting
authors.forename: Margaret
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Crossley
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging; D000544:Alzheimer Disease; D056344:Executive Function; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008606:Mental Processes; D008875:Middle Aged; D008960:Models, Psychological; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D010700:Phonetics; D012660:Semantics; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D013060:Speech; D055815:Young Adult