Biomedical subjects

Angela McBride

Publications and source records attributed to Angela McBride.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2005

Florida Cognitive Activities Scale: initial development and validation.

We used a rational-empirical approach in the construction and validation of a cognitive activity scale for use with elderly populations. The scale development effort produced a 25-item scale with a reasonably high level of internal consistency in a sample of 200 elderly individuals. Scale scores were positively correlated with years of education and measures of various domains of cognitive ability. In a separate cross-validation sample, a similar pattern of reliability and validity coefficients was obtained. The full scale score was found to contribute significantly to the prediction of cognitive ability after controlling for the effects of age, education, and gender. Two subscales (Higher Cognitive Abilities and Frequent Cognitive Abilities) and a measure of self-reported maintenance of cognitive activity were also developed. In a separate study, the maintenance score was found to differ significantly between the validation sample and a sample of individuals with a history of neurological disorder, with a moderate effect size (d approximately = .7). Further cross-validation studies in minority groups and groups of varying socioeconomic status will be critical in establishing the research and clinical value of the scale and subscales.

Aged↗

PubMed2005

Role of executive functioning in verbal and visual memory.

G. Tremont, S. Halpert, D. J. Javorsky, and R. A. Stern (2000) found that individuals with executive dysfunction were more impaired on less structured versus more structured verbal memory tasks. In the present study, the authors investigated the relationship between executive functions and memory in patients with a history of traumatic brain injury by examining the effect of executive functioning on more structured and less structured verbal and visual memory tasks at baseline and 1-year follow-up. Matched subgroups controlled for differences in severity of neuropsychological impairment unrelated to specific executive functions. The G. Tremont et al. (2000) findings were not replicated. Results showed that when acuteness and severity of injury were controlled, executive impairment played no significant role in performance on either more or less structured memory tasks. However, regardless of structure, executive functions played a role in visual memory performance, suggesting that visual memory may be a more fluid ability than verbal memory.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2005

The components of executive functioning in traumatic brain injury.

Theorists have proposed models of executive functioning, and functional neuroimaging and factor analytic studies have attempted to examine the components of executive functioning. These studies have arrived at different conclusions and many empirical studies are wrought with methodological confounds. The purpose of this exploratory study was to investigate the subcomponents of executive abilities while addressing some of the limitations common in previous studies. Neuropsychological test data were obtained from a sample of individuals with a history of TBI seen at one-year follow-up (n=104). Principal components factor analysis was conducted and yielded three factors that accounted for 52.7% of the variance. The first factor included higher-order executive functions with two components: self-generative behavior and cognitive flexibility/set shifting. The second factor appeared to represent mental control, particularly of ongoing working memory. The third factor consisted of memory errors, representing failure to inhibit reporting of inaccurate information. Although the results are not entirely consistent with any of the current theoretical models of executive function, they appear to be most consistent with the 1986 model of Stuss and Benson.

Adult↗