Skip to Main Content
 

Global Search Box

 
 
 
 

Files

File List


ANNA KRIVENKO THESIS FINAL.pdf (1.07 MB)

ETD Abstract Container

Abstract Header

DECLINE OF NONVERBAL EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONS ACROSS THE LIFESPAN – DISTINGUISHING BETWEEN OUTCOME AND PROCESS

Krivenko, Anna
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=csu14931219826484

Abstract Details

2017, Master of Arts in Psychology, Cleveland State University, College of Sciences and Health Professions.
Numerous studies have attempted to validate nonverbal fluency tests but none have examined construct validity, particularly the correlation of measures and self-reported executive functioning deficits. The current study examined this issue by correlating the results of the Five-Point Test (5PT) and the Delis Kaplan Executive Functioning System (D-KEFS) Design Fluency Test with the Barkley Deficits in Executive Functioning Scale – Short Form (BDEFS-SF) in 306 English speaking adults. Participants were volunteers from undergraduate classes and those serving jury duty in a large urban city. The mean age was 36.89 ± 18.08 with an average of 14.65 ± 2.85 years of education. The majority was female (70.3%), Caucasian (76.0%), and had a primary language of English (97.7%). Results were unable to confirm the previous literature showing adequate test-retest reliability across all scores for the 5PT and for the D-KEFS Design Fluency Test as only rotation of the 5PT (rs=.84) as having good reliability. In analyzing the scales of the BDEFS-SF, the study found only a few inconsistent meaningful correlations between the summary and strategy scores of the 5PT and scales of the BDEFS-SF. When controlling for age and education, repetitions for the 5PT and the DKEFS Design Fluency Test correlated significantly with most of the scores on the BDEFS-SF, supporting repetitions on nonverbal fluency tasks as measures of executive dysfunction. A mediation analysis was significant such that education mediated the relationship between age and number of unique designs on the 5PT, b = .086, 95% BCa CI [.035, .138], as well as for the relationship between age and strategies used on the 5PT, b = .069, 95% BCa CI [.014, .122]. In general, small insignificant correlations were found between the summary scores of the two nonverbal fluency measures and the self-report measure of executive functioning, further suggesting the link between self-report of such deficits and actual deficits is tenuous at best. These findings also indicate that higher education is neuroprotective against cognitive decline.
Amir Poreh, Ph.D. (Committee Chair)
Boaz Kahana, Psy.D. (Committee Member)
Christopher France, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
Psychological Tests; Psychology
Executive Functioning; Nonverbal Fluency; Five-Point Test; Delis Kaplan Executive Functioning System Design Fluency; Aging; Validity

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Krivenko, A. (2017). DECLINE OF NONVERBAL EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONS ACROSS THE LIFESPAN – DISTINGUISHING BETWEEN OUTCOME AND PROCESS [Master's thesis, Cleveland State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=csu14931219826484

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Krivenko, Anna. DECLINE OF NONVERBAL EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONS ACROSS THE LIFESPAN – DISTINGUISHING BETWEEN OUTCOME AND PROCESS. 2017. Cleveland State University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=csu14931219826484.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Krivenko, Anna. "DECLINE OF NONVERBAL EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONS ACROSS THE LIFESPAN – DISTINGUISHING BETWEEN OUTCOME AND PROCESS." Master's thesis, Cleveland State University, 2017. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=csu14931219826484

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

csu14931219826484
898
© 2017, some rights reserved.Creative Commons License DECLINE OF NONVERBAL EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONS ACROSS THE LIFESPAN – DISTINGUISHING BETWEEN OUTCOME AND PROCESS by Anna Krivenko is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. Based on a work at etd.ohiolink.edu.
This open access ETD is published by Cleveland State University and OhioLINK.