Octogenarian and centenarian performance on the Fuld Object Memory Evaluation

The Fuld Object Memory Evaluation (FOME) has considerable utility for cognitive assessment in older adults, but there are few normative data, particularly for the oldest old. In this study, 80 octogenarians and 244 centenarians from the Georgia Centenarian Study completed the FOME. Total and trial-to-trial performance on the storage, retrieval, repeated retrieval, and ineffective reminder indices were assessed. Additional data stratified by age group, education, and cognitive impairment are provided in the Supplemental data. Octogenarians performed significantly better than centenarians on all FOME measures. Neither age group benefitted from additional learning trials beyond Trial 3 for storage and Trial 2 for retention and retrieval. Ineffective reminders showed no change across learning trials for octogenarians, while centenarians improved only between Trials 1 and 2. This minimal improvement past Trial 2 indicates that older adults might benefit from a truncated version of the test that does not include trials three through five, with the added benefit of reducing testing burden in this population.     

Menstrual synchrony can be assessed,inherent cycle variability notwithstanding: commentary on Schank (2001)

J. C. Schank (2001) argued that biases in the calculation of synchrony (due to inherent variability in the menstrual cycle) and in respondents' recall of menstrual dates can produce spurious results. In this commentary, the major flaws in J. C. Schank's arguments regarding the calculation of synchrony are presented. Low standard deviations (< 2.0) of interwomen cycle lengths were found in a reanalysis of the Bedouin family data (A. Weller & L. Weller, 1997). This obviates J. C. Schank's major assumption that a high degree of cycle variability exists and his concern that high variability produces a spurious increase of onset differences over time. Furthermore, research that has used random control groups has found significantly greater levels of synchrony in their experimental groups, refuting J. C. Schank's arguments.