Modelling cognitive performance in the young and the older

Research in cognitive psychology has increasingly adopted a multivariate approach in which groups of tests are administered to adults or children in order to assess the structure of cognitive processes. In this talk, we will discuss two longitudinal studies that investigate developmental changes in cognitive functions of young children in one case and of cognitive decline of Alzheimer’s patients in the other. These studies involve the assessment of competing hypotheses on the relationships between some psychological constructs; and the observed measurements are gathered from the administration of batteries of tasks subject to complicated sampling protocols.