ABSTRACT
To test the hypothesis that accelerated aging factors may be responsible for previous findings of reduced performance by diabetics in a visual backward-masking task with colored stimuli, we compared masking performances of observers from three age cohorts (20-, 40-, and 60-yr.-olds). Since masking performance declined in a very similar fashion for all colors with age, it was concluded that the differential color-performance decrements associated with diabetes cannot be attributed to visual processes associated with normal aging. The application of the Lagged Accrual Model showed that sensory transmission time increases and asymptotic performance decreases as a function of age. Suggestions for the normative use of the present data and for further research are discussed.
Subject(s)
Aging/psychology , Color Perception , Perceptual Masking , Visual Perception , Adult , Age Factors , Color , Diabetes Mellitus/diagnosis , Diabetes Mellitus/psychology , Female , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Models, Psychological , Photic Stimulation , Visual AcuityABSTRACT
On a visual backward masking task using color stimuli with an achromatic patterned mask, we compared the masking performances of 3 Type I diabetics with those of 9 participants in a control group. Analysis indicated that the diabetics show a marked decrement in performance with blue stimuli and a lesser decrement with red stimuli. Suggestions for further theoretical and parametric studies are discussed.
Subject(s)
Color Perception , Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1/psychology , Diabetic Retinopathy/psychology , Pattern Recognition, Visual , Perceptual Masking , Adult , Attention , Discrimination Learning , Female , Humans , Male , Orientation , PsychophysicsABSTRACT
Although puréed diets are thought to be widely used for patients in long-term care facilities, there is little specific information concerning prevalence and reasons for the actual use of this diet texture. At Saint-Vincent Hospital, a 516 bed, long-term care and rehabilitation facility, 25.9% of the chronic-care population (n = 424) were on a puréed diet. Those who received puréed diets tended to be older (83.5 years versus 75.4 years, P < 0.001) and were more likely to be female (82.7% versus 70.8% P < 0.006), than the total population of long-term care patients. A greater percentage of patients receiving a puréed diet had dementia (43.0% versus 30.6%, P < 0.02), and fewer had cerebrovascular accident as a primary diagnosis (22.6% versus 33.9%, P < 0.05), than the total population of long-term care patients at this hospital. Following data collection, reasons for patients being on a puréed diet were grouped into five categories. The most popular categories were "Physiological/Mechanical" and "Cognitive" problems.
