Obtaining comparable measurement of midlife cognitive functioning from disparate cognitive tasks

In this episode, host Dr. Scott Sperling and student leader Jared Jacoboson Cherry meet with author Dr. Michael Culbertson to discuss his recent paper, Obtaining Comparable Measurement of Midlife Cognitive Functioning from Disparate Cognitive Tasks. Dr. Culbertson shares insights from his study addressing a common challenge in cognitive aging research: how to obtain comparable measures of cognitive functioning when participants complete different cognitive tasks or assessment methods. Drawing on data from the High School and Beyond Study, the conversation highlights psychometric approaches for linking cognitive performance across phone- and web-based assessments, as well as the benefits and limitations of incorporating explanatory variables into cognitive measurement. The conversation also goes over how these methods may be applied across diverse samples and longitudinal studies to improve the measurement of cognitive functioning in aging research.