COGNITIVE ABILITY IN CHILDHOOD AND

COGNITIVE DECLINE IN MID-LIFE:

LONGITUDINAL BIRTH COHORT STUDY

An Undergraduate Thesis

Presented to

Kevin Jerome L. Galera

In Partial fulfillment
Of the requirements for 4th year
High school students school year 2008-2009
Major in English

By:

Kevin Jerome L. Galera

 APPROVAL SHEET

This undergraduate thesis entitled “Cognitive ability in

childhood and cognitive decline in mid-life: longitudinal birth
cohort study” that was prepared and submitted by KEVIN
JEROME L. GALERA in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the 4th year high school students school year 2008-2009 is
hereby recommended for acceptance and approval.

Date Adviser

Accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the 4th year

high school students school year 2008-2009 by the Examination
Committee with the rating of .

Chairman

Member Member

Approved in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the 4th year

high school students school year 2008-2009.

Research and Campus University Coordinator

Coordinator

Date Date
 DEDICATION

The researcher would like to dedicate this piece of work to:

My Parents for the support that they have

given to me and for giving me the inspiration for doing this
research,

To my English teacher, Ms. JOANNE

SUMAYLO for encouraging us to do this research,

And of coarse to GOD for giving me the

strength and the knowledge to this research.

Thank you very much,

I really appreciate the help,

Kevin
 Table of Contents

Title Page
Approval Sheet
Acknowledgement
Dedication
Abstract
Table of Contents
Lists of Tables
Lists of Figures
Chapter:

1. The Problem and its Background

Introduction
Background of the study
Framework of the study
Statement of the Problem
Hypothesis
Scope and Delimitation
Significance of the study
Definition of terms

2. Review of related literature

Foreign literature
Foreign studies
Local literature
Local studies
 3. Methodology of research and source of data
Research method
Subject of the study
Locale of the study

Procedure of the study

Instrumentation
Statistical treatment
4. Presentation Analysis
5. Summary of findings, Conclusion and Recommendations
Summary of findings
Conclusion
Recommendation
References
Appendices
Curriculum vitae
 List of Figures

Figure

1. Conceptual Model for determining the

Cognitive ability in childhood and cognitive decline in
mid-life: longitudinal birth cohort study.

2. Location Map of Little Lambs Learning Center.

 Chapter 1

THE PROBLEM AND ITS BACKROUND

THIS chapter presents the introduction, background of
the study, framework of the study, conceptual model,
statement of the problem and significance of the study.

Introduction

Cognitive decline is associated with functional impairment1

and is a risk factor for frank dementia.2 Considerable effort
has therefore been invested in identifying its causes. While
sociodemographic factors have been examined,3 much less
is known about the lifetime influence of cognitive ability.
Lower ability in childhood4 and early adulthood5 is
associated with increased risk of dementia, but the
influence of early ability on general cognitive decline is less
understood. A recent study found no difference in rate of
cognitive change throughout life according to estimated
level of early ability.6 Using data from the British birth cohort
we investigated the association between measured ability in
childhood and rate of decline in memory, speed, and
concentration in mid-life, controlling for educational and
occupational attainment. Because cohort members had
been administered the national adult reading test (NART) at
the age of 53 years we were also able to investigate
possible independent effects of ability in childhood and
adulthood on rate of decline in these measures.
 ABSTRACT

To examine the association between cognitive ability in

Objective
childhood and mid-life cognitive decline in the normal population.
Design Longitudinal, population based, birth cohort study.

Participants 2058 men and women born in 1946.

Ability in childhood measured by AH4 and test of
Main study measures
verbal comprehension at age 15 years. Ability in adulthood measured
by the national adult reading test (NART) at age 53 years. Outcome
measures were decline in memory (word list learning) and speed and
concentration (timed visual search) from age 43 to 53 years.
Ability in childhood was significantly and negatively associated
Results
with decline in memory ( = 0.09, P = 0.005, for men; 0.10, P < 0.001,
for women) and search speed ( = 0.13, P < 0.001, for men; 0.08, P =
0.01, for women), independent of educational attainment,
occupational social class, and a range of health indicators. The adult
reading test was also significantly and negatively associated with
decline in these outcomes (for memory = 0.21, P < 0.001, for men;
0.17, P < 0.001, for women; and for search speed = -0.05 for men;
0.10, P = 0.008 for women) independent of educational attainment,
social class, and childhood ability.
Ability in childhood can protect against cognitive decline in
Conclusions
mid-life and beyond. Results for the adult reading test indicate that
the protective effect of ability may also be acquired in adulthood.
Profile of the respondents in
terms of:

Age:
Standardize questionnaire:
Sex:

Title: Cognitive ability in

childhood and decline in mid-
life: longitudinal birth cohort
study
 Conceptual framework

The conceptual model of the study was patterned on a

system approach where there is an input, output, and
process.
The input phase refers to the profile of the respondents
wherein age and sex were used as variables. The process
involved standardized questionnaire used as an instrument
in gathering data in the study. The output phase shows the
result of the study, whish is the common errors in English of
the first year high school students of Little Lambs Learning
Center.
Feedback is the reflection of the result, which shows the
common errors in English of the respondents.