Task complexity and signal detection analyses of lexical decision performance in Alzheimer's disease
This experiment addressed the issue of whether the changes in semantic memory performance associated with Alzheimer's disease (AD) could be distinguished from a generalized cognitive slowing. Young adults, healthy older adults, and AD patients performed 3 different reaction time (RT) tasks involving yes-no responses to visually presented letter strings. Task complexity analyses indicated that performance in the semantic task (lexical decision) was consistent with a generalized slowing of cognitive function that was greater in magnitude for AD than for normal aging. Signal detection analyses of the lexical decision data demonstrated AD-related changes in word-nonword discrimination, response bias, and the relation between discrimination and RT. The general cognitive slowing associated with AD was accompanied by additional changes specific to the performance of this semantic memory task.
Duke Scholars
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Related Subject Headings
- Experimental Psychology
- 5204 Cognitive and computational psychology
- 5201 Applied and developmental psychology
- 3209 Neurosciences
- 1702 Cognitive Sciences
- 1701 Psychology
- 1109 Neurosciences
Citation
Published In
DOI
ISSN
Publication Date
Volume
Issue
Start / End Page
Related Subject Headings
- Experimental Psychology
- 5204 Cognitive and computational psychology
- 5201 Applied and developmental psychology
- 3209 Neurosciences
- 1702 Cognitive Sciences
- 1701 Psychology
- 1109 Neurosciences