Jennifer Stiegler-Balfour, Regi Robnett and students Benjamin Katz, Jessica Hering and Elizabeth Whitmore present at the American Psychological Association Convention

Jennifer Stiegler-Balfour, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Psychology, and Regula Robnett, Ph.D., professor in the Department of Occupational Therapy, along with students Jessica Hering (Occupational Studies major/Psychology minor, 鈥15), Benjamin Katz (Psychology, 鈥17) and Elizabeth Whitmore (Medical Biology/Psychology minor, 鈥14) presented findings from a new study on cognitive aging at the American Psychological Association Convention in Toronto, Canada.

The presentation, titled 鈥淭he effects of attention and language skills on reading comprehension in an aging population,鈥 examines the effects of cognitive aging (in individuals 65 and older) on readers鈥 ability to monitor subtle nuances of text. The results reveal that sustained attention, executive function abilities and working memory (all sub-scales of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment) are key aspects of explaining the changes in comprehension ability of individuals experiencing cognitive decline.

By shedding new light on the cognitive processes which create the most challenges, this research has a number of practical implications, including the development of new reading strategies or textual changes capable of alleviating comprehension difficulties for individuals experiencing mild cognitive decline. 

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