Abstract
Visual perception serves as the basis for much of the higher level cognitive processing as well as human activity in general. Here we present normative estimates for the following components of visual perception: the visual perceptual threshold, the visual short-term memory (VSTM) capacity and the visual perceptual encoding/decoding speed (processing speed) of VSTM based on an assessment of 91 healthy subjects aged 60–75. The estimates were modeled from input from a whole-report assessment based on a theory of visual attention. In addition to the estimates themselves, we present correlational data, and multiple regression analyses between the estimates and self-reported demographic data and lifestyle variables. The regression statistics suggest that education level, video gaming activity, and employment status may significantly impact the encoding/decoding speed of VTSM but not the capacity of VSTM nor the visual perceptual threshold. The estimates will be useful for future studies into the effects of various types of intervention and training on cognition in general and visual attention in particular.
Highlights
The method demonstrated in this chapter is a computational assessment of visual processing capacity in 91 healthy subjects age 60–75
CONCLUDING REMARKS We presented the TVA estimates for a sample of 91 healthy subject aged 60–75 and influences on the estimates of selfreported physical exercise, alcohol consumption, video gaming as well as various demographic categorizations
We did this to provide a set of normative estimates to be used in future studies into effects of training and intervention as well as assessment of visual perception in relation to clinical conditions
Summary
The method demonstrated in this chapter is a computational assessment of visual processing capacity in 91 healthy subjects age 60–75. The normative visual processing capacity estimates in this chapter is provided for the total sample of subjects as well as for the critical demographic variables: age, gender, level of education, employment status. Many studies have demonstrated that the processing speed of the brain is susceptible to training throughout life (Takeuchi et al, 2011) This offers hope for prolonging the cognitive quality of life in both healthy and brain injured senior citizens through training intervention. As part of a larger study into the effects of cognitive training, we wanted to try to model the visual capacity in a sample of healthy senior citizens taking into account the influence of demographic data as well as self-reported lifestyle activities. The idea was to try to assess which of the most common activities of daily living needs to be taken into account when doing cognitive effect studies within the field of visual attention
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