The performance of 93 ageing subjects (age range, 59-96) was studied in tests that
had been proved to measure M capacity in children (Morra, 1994), (i.e. the Backward
Digit Span, the Counting Span, and the Mr Cucumber Test). For the sake of
comparison, the Forward Digit Span was also administered. Preliminary analyses
showed that Backward Digit Span, Counting Span, and Mr Cucumber have a similar rate
of decline with age, and are significantly correlated with one another. The goodness
of ” t of three different linear structural equation models suggests that,
also in the elderly, the scores in these three tests reflect the same latent
construct (i.e. M capacity), which in turn is negatively affected by age and
positively affected by education. In addition, the variance within each subject of
these three scores is usually small. It is concluded that these three tests can also
be used as measures of M capacity in ageing subjects.
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