Sustained and Selective Attention in University Students: Influence of Age and Career on the Normative data of d2 Test

Authors

Josiane Pawlowski

Universidad de Iberoamerica/Universidad de Costa Rica

josipski@gmail.com

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3597-349X

Abstract

Various factors affect performance on cognitive tests that involve attention, including age and schooling. Sustained and selective attention of 459 Psychology, Basic Sciences and Engineering university students, 58.9% women, between 18 and 39 years old, all of them Spanish speakers, evaluated through their performance in different scores of the d2 test. An analysis of a multivariate model is applied to verify the relation among the variables age, sex, and career and their effect on the dependent scores: total number of responses (TR) and concentration index (CON) of the d2 test. The main effect of career are observed. Normative data of the d2 test are generated for university students with age ranges of 18-24 and 25-35 years. Age-standardized results for the d2 test are necessary to reliably assess Spanish-speakers people with higher education. The influence of the university degree on the normative data of cognitive tests is discussed.

Keywords

Sustained attention selective attention normative data d2 Test

How to Cite

Pawlowski, J. (2024). Sustained and Selective Attention in University Students: Influence of Age and Career on the Normative data of d2 Test. Caribbean Educational Research Journal (RECIE), 8(1), 21–39. https://doi.org/10.32541/recie.2024.v8i1.pp21-39

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Metrics

Metrics Loading ...

References

Eramudugolla, R., & Huque, M. H. (2021). Gender differences in cognitive development in cohorts of young, middle, and older adulthood over 12 years. Developmental Psychology, 57(8), 1403-1410. https://doi.org/10.1037/dev0001210

Arán Filippetti, V., Gutiérrez, M., Krumm, G., & Mateos, D. (2021). Convergent validity, academic correlates and age- and SES-based normative data for the d2 Test of attention in children. Applied Neuropsychology: Child, 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1080/21622965.2021.1923494

Ardila, A. (2007). The impact of culture on neuropsychological test performance. En B. P. Uzzell, M. Pontón, & A. Ardila (Eds.), International Handbook of Cross-Cultural Neuropsychology (pp. 23-44). Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Ardila, A., Rosselli, M., Matute, E., & Inozemtseva, O. (2011). Gender differences in cognitive development. Developmental Psychology, 47(4), 984-990. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0023819

Baghaei, P., Ravand, H., & Nadri, M. (2019). Is the d2 Test of Attention Rasch Scalable? Analysis with the Rasch Poisson Counts Model. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 126(1), 70-86. https://doi.org/10.1177/0031512518812183

Bates, M. E., & Lemay Jr., E. P. (2004). The d2 Test of Attention: Construct validity and extensions in scoring techniques. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, 10(3), 392-400. https://doi.org/10.1017/ S135561770410307X

Blotenberg, I., & Schmidt-Atzert, L. (2019). Towards a Process Model of Sustained Attention Tests. Journal of Intelligence, 7(1), 3. https://doi.org/10.3390/jintelligence7010003

Bonete López, B., Oltra-Cucarella, J., Lorente Martínez, R., & Sitges Maciá, E. (2020). Datos normativos del test Barcelona revisado-abreviado para personas mayores cognitivamente activas [Normative data of the abbreviated-revised Barcelona test for cognitively active elderly people]. Revista Española de Geriatría y Gerontología, 55(3), 137-146. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.regg.2019.09.007

Borda, M. G., Reyes-Ortiz, C., Pérez-Zepeda, M. U., Patino-Hernández, D., Gómez-Arteaga, C., & Cano-Gutiérrez, C. A. (2019). Educational level and its Association with the domains of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment Test. Aging & Mental Health, 23(10), 1300-1306. https://doi.org/10.1080/13607863.2018.1488940

Caglar, E., & Koruç, Z. (2006). Reliability and Validity of d2 Test of Attention for Athletes. Spor Bilimleri Dergisi, 17(2), 58-80.

Carpinelli Mazzi, M., Iavarone, A., Russo, G., Musella, C., Milan, G., D’Anna, F., Garofalo, E., Chieffi, S., Sannino, M., Illario, M., De Luca, V., Postiglione, A., Abete, P., & with the support of the Working group (2020). Mini-Mental State Examination: new normative values on subjects in Southern Italy. Aging Clinical and Experimental Research, 32(4), 699-702. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40520-019-01250-2

Chevalier, T. M., Stewart, G., Nelson, M., McInerney, R. J., & Brodie, N. (2016). Impaired or Not Impaired, That Is the Question: Navigating the Challenges Associated with Using Canadian Normative Data in a Comprehensive Test Battery That Contains American Tests. Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology, 31(5), 446-455. https://doi.org/10.1093/arclin/acw031

Contador, I., Del Ser, T., Llamas, S., Villarejo, A., Benito-León, J., & Bermejo-Pareja, F. (2017). Impact of literacy and years of education on the diagnosis of dementia: A population-based study. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology, 39(2), 112-119. https://doi.org/10.1080/13803395.2016.1204992

Duff, K., Schoenberg, M. R., Mold, J. W., Scott, J. G., & Adams, R. L. (2011). Gender differences on the Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status subtests in older adults: baseline and retest data. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology, 33(4), 448-455. https://doi.org/10.1080/13803395.2010.533156

Duggan, E. C., Awakon, L. M., Loaiza, C. C., & García-Barrera, M. A. (2019). Contributing Towards a Cultural Neuropsychology Assessment Decision-Making Framework: Comparison of WAIS-IV Norms from Colombia, Chile, Mexico, Spain, United States, and Canada. Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology, 34(5), 657-681. https://doi.org/10.1093/arclin/acy074

Elkana, O., Tal, N., Oren, N., Soffer, S., & Ash, E. L. (2020). Is the cutoff of the MoCA too high? Longitudinal data from highly educated older adults. Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry and Neurology, 33(3), 155-160. https://doi.org/10.1177/0891988719874121

Fortenbaugh, F. C., DeGutis, J., & Esterman, M. (2017). Recent theoretical, neural, and clinical advances in sustained attention research. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1396(1), 70-91. https://doi.org/10.1111/nyas.13318

Gaete, M., Jorquera, S., Bello-Lepe, S., Mendoza, Y. M., Véliz, M., Alonso-Sánchez, M. F., & Lira, J. (2023). Standardized results of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) for neurocognitive screening in a Chilean population [Resultados estandarizados del Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) para cribado neurocognitivo en población chilena]. Neurología (English Edition), 38(4), 246-255. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nrl.2020.08.017

García, J., & Portellano, J. A. (2014). Neuropsicología de la atención, las funciones ejecutivas y la memoria. Síntesis.

Gómez-Ramírez, M., Hysaj, K., & Niebur, E. (2016). Neural mechanisms of selective attention in the somatosensory system. Journal of Neurophysiology, 116(3), 1218-1231. https://doi.org/10.1152/jn.00637.2015

Harada, C. N., Love, M. C. N., & Triebel, K. L. (2013). Normal cognitive aging. Clinics in Geriatric Medicine, 29(4), 737-752. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cger.2013.07.002

Hernández-Sampieri, R., & Mendoza, C. (2018). Metodología de la investigación. Las rutas cuantitativa, cualitativa y mixta. Editorial Mc Graw Hill Education.

Hyde, J. S. (2014). Gender similarities and differences. Annual Review of Psycho-logy, 65, 373-398. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-psych-010213-115057

Izquierdo, M. C., de Iscar Pérez, M. J., Losa, M. A. B., López, M. M., Pérez, L. Á., Solís, G., Colomer, B. F., & Pérez, J. L. A. (2007). Psychometric properties of the d2 selective attention test in a sample of premature and born-at-term babies. Psicothema, 19(4), 706-710. https://www.psicothema.com/pii?pii=3420

Lezak, M. D., Howieson, D. B., Bigler, E. D., & Tranel, D. (2012). Neuropsychological Assessment (5th ed.). Oxford University Press.

Marquine, M. J., Morlett Paredes, A., Madriaga, C., Blumstein, Y., Umlauf, A., Kamalyan, L., Rivera Mindt, M., Suárez, P., Artiola I Fortuni, L., Heaton, R. K., & Cherner, M. (2021). Demographically-adjusted norms for selected tests of verbal fluency: Results from the Neuropsychological Norms for the US-Mexico Border Region in Spanish (NP-NUMBRS) project. The Clinical Neuropsychologist, 35(2), 269-292. https://doi.org/10.1080/13854046.2020.1762931

McCarrey, A. C., An, Y., Kitner-Triolo, M. H., Ferrucci, L., & Resnick, S. M. (2016). Sex differences in cognitive trajectories in clinically normal older adults. Psychology and Aging, 31(2), 166-175. https://doi.org/10.1037/pag0000070

Murman, D. L. (2015). The Impact of Age on Cognition. Seminars in Hearing, 36(3), 111-121. https://doi.org/10.1055/s-0035-1555115

Ostrosky-Solís, F., Gutiérrez, A. L., & Pérez, M. E. G. (2010). Cultura, escolaridad y edad en la valoración neuropsicológica. Revista Mexicana de Psicología, 27(2), 285-291. https://www.redalyc.org/pdf/2430/243016324016.pdf

Park, H. L., O’Connell, J. E., & Thomson, R. G. (2003). A systematic review of cognitive decline in the general elderly population. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 18(12), 1121-1134. https://doi.org/10.1002/gps.1023

Päßler, K., & Hell, B. (2012). Do interests and cognitive abilities help explain college major choice equally well for women and men? Journal of Career Assessment, 20(4), 479-496. https://doi.org/10.1177/1069072712450009

Pawlowski, J. (2020). Test de Atención d2: Consistencia interna, estabilidad temporal y evidencias de validez. Revista Costarricense de Psicología, 39(2), 145-165. https://doi.org/10.22544/rcps.v39i02.02

Pedraza, O. L., Salazar, A. M., Sierra, F. A., Soler, D., Castro, J., Castillo, P. C., Hernández, M. A., & Piñeros, C. (2016). Confiabilidad, validez de criterio y discriminante del Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) test, en un grupo de adultos de Bogotá. Acta Médica Colombiana, 41(4), 221-228. https://doi.org/10.36104/amc.2016.693

Petersen, S. E., & Posner, M. I. (2012). The attention system of the human brain: 20 years after. Annual Review of Neuroscience, 35, 73-89. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-neuro-062111-150525

Porter, S. R., & Umbach, P. D. (2006). College Major Choice: An Analysis of Person–Environment Fit. Research in Higher Education, 47(4), 429-449. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11162-005-9002-3

Rivera, D., Perrin, P. B., Aliaga, A., Garza, M. T., Saracho, C. P., Rodríguez, W., Justo-Guillén, E., Aguayo, A., Schebela, S., Gulin, S., Weil, C., Longoni, M., Ocampo-Barba, N., Galarza-Del-Ángel, J., Rodríguez, D., Esenarro, L., García-Egan, P., Martínez, C., & Arango-Lasprilla, J. C. (2015). Brief Test of Attention: Normative data for the Latin American Spanish speaking adult population. NeuroRehabilitation, 37(4), 663-676. https://doi.org/10.3233/NRE-151283

Roebuck-Spencer, T. M., Glen, T., Puente, A. E., Denney, R. L., Ruff, R. M., Hostetter, G., & Bianchini, K. J. (2017). Cognitive screening tests versus comprehensive neuropsychological test batteries: a national academy of neuropsychology education paper. Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology, 32(4), 491-498. https://doi.org/10.1093/arclin/acx021

Salthouse, T. (2012). Consequences of age-related cognitive declines. Annual Review of Psychology, 63, 201-226. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-psych-120710-100328

Salthouse, T. A. (2016). Continuity of cognitive change across adulthood. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 23(3), 932-939. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13423-015-0910-8

Seisdedos, N. (2012). D2, test de atención. Adaptación española (4a ed.). Tea Ediciones.

Staub, B., Doignon-Camus, N., Després, O., & Bonnefond, A. (2013). Sustained attention in the elderly: What do we know and what does it tell us about cognitive aging? Ageing Research Reviews, 12(2), 459-468. doi:10.1016/j.arr.012.12.001

Steinborn, M. B., Langner, R., Flehmig, H. C., & Huestegge, L. (2018). Methodology of performance scoring in the d2 sustained-attention test: Cumulative-reliability functions and practical guidelines. Psychological assessment, 30(3), 339-357. https://doi.org/10.1037/pas0000482

Usuga, D. R., Mora-Villalobos, L., Brown-Mata, G., Smith-Castro, V., Rivera, D., & Arango-Lasprill, J. C. (2023). A-09 Normative Data of Neuropsychological Tests of Attention in Older Adults from Costa Rica. Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology, 38(7), 1170-1170. https://doi.org/10.1093/arclin/acad067.027

Usuga, D. R., Mora-Villalobos, L., Brown-Mata, G., Smith-Castro, V., Rivera, D., & Arango-Lasprilla, J. C. (2023). A-11 Normative Data of Neuropsychological Tests of Learning and Memory Tests in Older Adults from Costa Rica. Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology, 38(7), 1172-1172. https://doi.org/10.1093/arclin/acad067.029

Vanotti, S., Cores, E. V., Eizaguirre, B., Ángeles, M., Rey, R., Villa, A., & Cáceres, F. (2015). Normatization of the symbol digit modalities test-oral version in a Latin American country. Applied neuropsychology: Adult, 22(1), 46-53. https://doi.org/10.1080/23279095.2013.831866

Vásquez, A. (2015). Manual de introducción a la psicología cognitiva. UdelaR.

Wai, J., Lubinski, D., & Benbow, C. P. (2009). Spatial ability for STEM domains: Aligning over 50 years of cumulative psychological knowledge solidifies its importance. Journal of Educational Psychology, 101(4), 817-835. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0016127

Section

Articles

Author Biography

Josiane Pawlowski, Universidad de Iberoamerica/Universidad de Costa Rica

Doctor in Psychology (PhD) from the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Brazil, with a specialization in Psychological Assessment from the same institution and a period of doctoral research ("doctoral sandwich") at the Faculty of Psychology of the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (UAM).
She was Associate Professor (Full Professor) in the Department of Psychometry at the Institute of Psychology of the Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), Brazil. During this period, she was supervisor of student internships, graduate thesis advisor, research project coordinator and head of the Psychometry Department.
She was a researcher and Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Psychology at the University of Iberoamerica (UNIBE), Costa Rica (2015-2022).
Since 2019, she is an accredited researcher by the National Council for Health Research (CONIS) of the Ministry of Health of Costa Rica.
Currently, she is an Interim Professor in the Psychology Career at Universidade de Costa Rica and Universidad Nacional, Costa Rica. She is a member of the Editorial Team of the Journal Actualidades en Psicología (Ad honorem) and Member of the Commission for the Strengthening of Research in Psychology of the Colegio de Profesionales en Psicología de Costa Rica (volunteer).