This research aims to further our understanding of the relationship between individuals' daily activities and the maintenance of cognitive skills with age (c.f. Hultsch et al., 1999; Lahar & Noll, 1994; Pushkar et al., 1997) by describing data from over 400 Canadian adults representing a wide range of ages, occupations and interests. Most research to date has focused on middle-aged and older samples but here younger samples were included to examine how such relationships may or may not change through the full course of adulthood. Individuals were assessed on a multi-factorial self-report everyday activity measure and a set of cognitive tests (vocabulary, reasoning, memory, fluency, naming, speed). Passive and active intellectual engagement, physical and domestic activities, and TV viewing behaviors were some of the factors measured by the activity questionnaire. Correlational analyses revealed both age invariant relationships and differences in the patterns of relationships between the groups. For example, greater TV viewing activity was significantly related to lower verbal skills in all age groups. On the other hand, there was a strong relationship between engaging in mentally challenging activities and achieving higher cognitive scores in the young samples, but for the older groups no significant relationship emerged between intellectual engagement and cognitive skills. The implications of the age variant and age invariant relationships will be discussed from both a qualitative perspective as well as a measurement perspective.

Presented at the Cognitive Aging Conference, Atlanta Georgia, April 2000.

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