Award Date

1-1-1997

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Kinesiology

First Committee Member

Mark Guadagnoli

Number of Pages

59

Abstract

The issue of alcohol use and abuse among older adults is one that is gaining attention in current literature. Although it is an important issue, empirical evidence within the domain of alcohol, aging, and cognition, is sparse. Thus, the proposed preliminary study was designed to examine the relationship between chronic alcohol consumption and information processing speed in older adults. Eight matched participants (4 per group, mean age 56 years) were divided into two groups: Alcoholic or non-alcoholic. Participants were assigned to their respective group and matched based on the information provided on a health questionnaire. All participants completed a series of information processing measures. A 2 (Group) x 3 (Test) ANOVA with repeated measures on the last factor was used to compare reaction times of three separate tests of information processing ability. Unfortunately, the analysis suffered from lack of statistical power. However, data trends strongly suggested a difference between the alcoholic and non-alcoholic participants on all measures of information processing. Further, interactive trends of the data were noted with the alcoholics showing more deficits as a result of the more complex processing requirements. Future suggestions are to continue the work with more participants of more diverse socio-economic status, health, and alcohol behavior, as assessed through the a priori health questionnaire.

Keywords

Ability; Abuse; Adults; Alcohol; Chronic; Information; Older; Processing; Relationship

Controlled Subject

Cognitive psychology; Psychophysiology; Gerontology

File Format

pdf

File Size

1617.92 KB

Degree Grantor

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Language

English

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