Experimental Aging Research
ISSN: 0361-073X (Print) 1096-4657 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/uear20
Formal education and intellectual functioning in the immigrant cuban elderly Gordon E. Finley & Maria Delgado To cite this article: Gordon E. Finley & Maria Delgado (1979) Formal education and intellectual functioning in the immigrant cuban elderly, Experimental Aging Research, 5:2, 149-154, DOI: 10.1080/03610737908257193 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03610737908257193
Published online: 28 Sep 2007.
Submit your article to this journal
Article views: 3
View related articles
Citing articles: 1 View citing articles
Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at http://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=uear20 Download by: [Nanyang Technological University]
Date: 11 November 2015, At: 04:58
149
Downloaded by [Nanyang Technological University] at 04:58 11 November 2015
BRIEF COMMUNICATION FORMAL EDUCATION AND INTELLECTUAL FUNCTIONING IN THE IMMIGRANT CUBAN ELDERLY GORDON E. F I N L E Y
and MARIA DELGADO Department of Psychology Florida International University Miami, Florida 33199 U.S.A.
Finley, G.E., & Delgado, M. Formal education and intellectual functioning in the immigrant Cuban elderly. Experimental Aging Research, 1979,5(2), 149-154. Formal educational experience during childhood and adolescence is an important modifier of intellectual functioning in North American elderly populations. The cultureindependence of this relationship was examined with 31 immigrant Cuban elderly men and women who received their education in Cuba. The amount of formal education was significantly related to performance on measures of classification, combinatorial analysis (males only), hypothesis testing, and matrices. An index of fluid intelligence (matrices) also was significantly related to performance on the classification and hypothesis testing tasks. All participants conserved both liquid and mass, thus showing no regression on these two concrete operational tasks.
The amount of formal educational experience attained in childhood and adolescence has been established as a n important modifier of intellectual functioning in old age (Botwinick, 1977). Unfortunately, all studies known to the authors have been
We are most grateful for the spirited collaboration of the participants and directors of the Little Havana Activities Center, Miami, Florida.
Downloaded by [Nanyang Technological University] at 04:58 11 November 2015
FINLEY/DELGADO carried out with North American populations. The purpose of the present investigation, therefore, was to examine the cultureindependence of this relationship by using a different population of seniors. The participants selected for the present study were elderly persons who had received their formal educational experiences in Cuba as children and adolescents and who, later as adults, immigrated to a new host country, the United States. METHOD
Subjects
The sample consisted of thirty-one immigrant Cubans (17 males and 14 females) who were actively participating on a daily basis in the programs of the Little Havana Activities Center in the heart of Miami’s Latin section. They ranged in age from 64 to 88 years with a mean age of 73.9 years ( S D = 5.55) for men and 72.5 years ( S D = 7.01) for women. The levels of education attained in Cuba ranged from no formal education to the completion of law school. For males, the mean number of years of education was 7.94 and for females it was 7.86. The sample was divided into two levels of education: Low (no formal education through the completion of elementary school) ; and High (some high school through the completion of college o r professional school). Procedures and Scoring
The participants were selected from members of the Center who were unoccupied when the next person was needed. All tasks were administered individually, in Spanish, and were completed in 30 to 45 minutes. The instructions were translated by the junior author and checked by the senior author. The tasks were administered in the order described below. A standard Piagetian procedure was followed for Conservation of Liquid and Conservation of Mass using-glasses of water
Downloaded by [Nanyang Technological University] at 04:58 11 November 2015
INTELLECTUAL FUNCTIONING IN CUBAN ELDERLY
151
and clay balls. T w o trials were given on each task to be certain of the participant’s conservation status. The Classification Task consisted of 27 pieces of felt cloth with three different colors, sizes, and shapes. Participants were asked to “put the things that a r e alike or go together into groups” and the responses were coded as Pass (unambiguous color, size, o r shape groupings) or Fail.
The Combinatorial Analysis Task consisted of six groups of different colored plastic chips placed in a row. The participant was asked to form as many pairs of different colors as possible, without repeating pairs. Only one subject obtained the correct answer of 15 pairs. The coding criteria therefore were changed to: High (15 L 1 pairs and clear evidence of a systematic formation or checking strategy) ; and Low (any lesser performance). The Hypothesis Testing Task was taken from Denney & Denney (1973) and represents a variant of the “20 Questions” game. The participant’s questions were tape recorded, transcribed, and coded into two categories: High (some constraint or pseudoconstraint seeking questions) ; o r Low (specific hypothesis testing questions only). The Matrices Task was a shortened version of Vernon’s (1969) task and represents a n index of induction which Vernon regards as similar to Raven’s Progressive Matrices, and hence fluid intelligence. The scores could range from 0 to 18 and a r e reported as High/Low median splits. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION The major finding was that the amount of formal education attained during childhood and adolescence in Cuba remained strongly associated with intellectual performance among Cuban elders who later immigrated to Miami. The upper row of Table 1 presents the results for all tasks for which there were no floor or ceiling effects. It should be noted that the number of subjects varied from analysis to analysis since some data a r e reported for males only and occasionally data were missing from specific tasks. As reported in Table 1, Fisher exact probability tests
Males only.
Fail 6
p
= 0.0225
~
7 1
~~~~~
3 p = 0.0516
of participants falling into each cell.
8 13
~
16
Pass 6
b Fisher exact probability test (1-tail).
a Number
Low (15) High (14)
Fluid Intelligence (Matricesla
High (19)
Low (12)
Educational Levela Low 7
= 0.1002
6 2
3 p = 0.0062
p
2 6
0 7
High
Intellectual Functioning Tasks Combinatorial Classificationatb analysisalbfc
0 6
Low 11
= 0.0063
8
15
13 p = 0.0457
p
6
High 0
Hypothesis testinga pb
TABLE 1 Educational Level, Fluid Intelligence, and Intellectual Functioning
Low 10
5 p = 0.0001 14
High 0
Matricesasb
Downloaded by [Nanyang Technological University] at 04:58 11 November 2015
0
r
M
U
\-
F; 4
INTELLECTUAL FUNCTIONING IN CUBAN ELDERLY
153
Downloaded by [Nanyang Technological University] at 04:58 11 November 2015
showed that educational level was significantly related to performance on the classification, combinatorial analysis (for males only, since only one female scored in the high category), hypothesis testing, and matrices tasks. Since the relationship between childhood educational level and old age performance on the index of fluid intelligence (the matrices task 1 was so strong, the relationship between fluid intelligence and the other cognitive tasks was examined as seen in the lower row of Table 1. As reported in Table 1, Fisher exact probability tests showed that fluid intelligence was significantly related to performance on the classification and hypothesis testing tasks but not on the combinatorial analysis task. Finally, when analyzed as a continuous variable, fluid intelligence was significantly correlated with the number of years of formal education (females, T = 0.78,p 0.05;males, T = -0.37,p > 0.05). Regretfully, since childhood data are lacking, it is not possible to separate the relationships among childhood intellectual functioning, childhood education, old a g e fluid intelligence, and old age cognitive functioning. Also of interest was the fact that lOOcY, of the participants conserved both liquid and mass, thus showing no regression on these two concrete operational tasks. Similar conservation results have been reported previously (e.g., Protinsky & Hughston, 1978) but are not typical (e.g., Papalia, 1972). A g e ( young-old versus old-old) and sex differences were examined but none were found, other than the sex difference noted earlier for the combinatorial analysis task.
In conclusion, as in studies based upon samples of long time residents of the United States, the more highly educated elderly Cuban immigrants performed better on the intellectual tasks than did the lesser educated elderly Cubans. Also of interest was the fact that the old age measure of fluid intelligence, the
Downloaded by [Nanyang Technological University] at 04:58 11 November 2015
154
FINLEY/DELGADO
matrices task, was significantly related to the number of years of formal education as well as to two other indices of cognitive functioning in old age. It is striking to note the degree to which educational level is related to performance on the combinatorial analysis (males only) and matrices tasks while fluid intelligence (matrices task) is so strongly related to the hypothesis testing task. Finally, no evidence for old age regression on the conservation of liquid or the conservation of mass was observed in the present sample.
REFERENCES BOTWINICK, J. Intellectual abilities. In J.E. Birren& K.W. Schaie(Eds.) Handbook of the psychology ofuging. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1977, pp. 580-605. DENNEY, D.R., & DENNEY, N.W. The use of classification for problem solving: A comparison of middle and old age. Developmental Psychology, 1973, (9). 275-278. PAPALIA, D.E. The status of several conservation abilities across the life-span. Human Development, 1972, (15), 229-243. PROTINSKY, H., & HUGHSTON, G. Conservation in elderly males: An empirical investigation. Developmental Psychology, 1978. (14), 114. VERNON, P.E. Intelligence and cultural environment. London: Methuen, 1969.
Received October 21. 1978; Accepted January 25, I979
ISSN: 0361-073X (Print) 1096-4657 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/uear20
Formal education and intellectual functioning in the immigrant cuban elderly Gordon E. Finley & Maria Delgado To cite this article: Gordon E. Finley & Maria Delgado (1979) Formal education and intellectual functioning in the immigrant cuban elderly, Experimental Aging Research, 5:2, 149-154, DOI: 10.1080/03610737908257193 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03610737908257193
Published online: 28 Sep 2007.
Submit your article to this journal
Article views: 3
View related articles
Citing articles: 1 View citing articles
Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at http://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=uear20 Download by: [Nanyang Technological University]
Date: 11 November 2015, At: 04:58
149
Downloaded by [Nanyang Technological University] at 04:58 11 November 2015
BRIEF COMMUNICATION FORMAL EDUCATION AND INTELLECTUAL FUNCTIONING IN THE IMMIGRANT CUBAN ELDERLY GORDON E. F I N L E Y
and MARIA DELGADO Department of Psychology Florida International University Miami, Florida 33199 U.S.A.
Finley, G.E., & Delgado, M. Formal education and intellectual functioning in the immigrant Cuban elderly. Experimental Aging Research, 1979,5(2), 149-154. Formal educational experience during childhood and adolescence is an important modifier of intellectual functioning in North American elderly populations. The cultureindependence of this relationship was examined with 31 immigrant Cuban elderly men and women who received their education in Cuba. The amount of formal education was significantly related to performance on measures of classification, combinatorial analysis (males only), hypothesis testing, and matrices. An index of fluid intelligence (matrices) also was significantly related to performance on the classification and hypothesis testing tasks. All participants conserved both liquid and mass, thus showing no regression on these two concrete operational tasks.
The amount of formal educational experience attained in childhood and adolescence has been established as a n important modifier of intellectual functioning in old age (Botwinick, 1977). Unfortunately, all studies known to the authors have been
We are most grateful for the spirited collaboration of the participants and directors of the Little Havana Activities Center, Miami, Florida.
Downloaded by [Nanyang Technological University] at 04:58 11 November 2015
FINLEY/DELGADO carried out with North American populations. The purpose of the present investigation, therefore, was to examine the cultureindependence of this relationship by using a different population of seniors. The participants selected for the present study were elderly persons who had received their formal educational experiences in Cuba as children and adolescents and who, later as adults, immigrated to a new host country, the United States. METHOD
Subjects
The sample consisted of thirty-one immigrant Cubans (17 males and 14 females) who were actively participating on a daily basis in the programs of the Little Havana Activities Center in the heart of Miami’s Latin section. They ranged in age from 64 to 88 years with a mean age of 73.9 years ( S D = 5.55) for men and 72.5 years ( S D = 7.01) for women. The levels of education attained in Cuba ranged from no formal education to the completion of law school. For males, the mean number of years of education was 7.94 and for females it was 7.86. The sample was divided into two levels of education: Low (no formal education through the completion of elementary school) ; and High (some high school through the completion of college o r professional school). Procedures and Scoring
The participants were selected from members of the Center who were unoccupied when the next person was needed. All tasks were administered individually, in Spanish, and were completed in 30 to 45 minutes. The instructions were translated by the junior author and checked by the senior author. The tasks were administered in the order described below. A standard Piagetian procedure was followed for Conservation of Liquid and Conservation of Mass using-glasses of water
Downloaded by [Nanyang Technological University] at 04:58 11 November 2015
INTELLECTUAL FUNCTIONING IN CUBAN ELDERLY
151
and clay balls. T w o trials were given on each task to be certain of the participant’s conservation status. The Classification Task consisted of 27 pieces of felt cloth with three different colors, sizes, and shapes. Participants were asked to “put the things that a r e alike or go together into groups” and the responses were coded as Pass (unambiguous color, size, o r shape groupings) or Fail.
The Combinatorial Analysis Task consisted of six groups of different colored plastic chips placed in a row. The participant was asked to form as many pairs of different colors as possible, without repeating pairs. Only one subject obtained the correct answer of 15 pairs. The coding criteria therefore were changed to: High (15 L 1 pairs and clear evidence of a systematic formation or checking strategy) ; and Low (any lesser performance). The Hypothesis Testing Task was taken from Denney & Denney (1973) and represents a variant of the “20 Questions” game. The participant’s questions were tape recorded, transcribed, and coded into two categories: High (some constraint or pseudoconstraint seeking questions) ; o r Low (specific hypothesis testing questions only). The Matrices Task was a shortened version of Vernon’s (1969) task and represents a n index of induction which Vernon regards as similar to Raven’s Progressive Matrices, and hence fluid intelligence. The scores could range from 0 to 18 and a r e reported as High/Low median splits. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION The major finding was that the amount of formal education attained during childhood and adolescence in Cuba remained strongly associated with intellectual performance among Cuban elders who later immigrated to Miami. The upper row of Table 1 presents the results for all tasks for which there were no floor or ceiling effects. It should be noted that the number of subjects varied from analysis to analysis since some data a r e reported for males only and occasionally data were missing from specific tasks. As reported in Table 1, Fisher exact probability tests
Males only.
Fail 6
p
= 0.0225
~
7 1
~~~~~
3 p = 0.0516
of participants falling into each cell.
8 13
~
16
Pass 6
b Fisher exact probability test (1-tail).
a Number
Low (15) High (14)
Fluid Intelligence (Matricesla
High (19)
Low (12)
Educational Levela Low 7
= 0.1002
6 2
3 p = 0.0062
p
2 6
0 7
High
Intellectual Functioning Tasks Combinatorial Classificationatb analysisalbfc
0 6
Low 11
= 0.0063
8
15
13 p = 0.0457
p
6
High 0
Hypothesis testinga pb
TABLE 1 Educational Level, Fluid Intelligence, and Intellectual Functioning
Low 10
5 p = 0.0001 14
High 0
Matricesasb
Downloaded by [Nanyang Technological University] at 04:58 11 November 2015
0
r
M
U
\-
F; 4
INTELLECTUAL FUNCTIONING IN CUBAN ELDERLY
153
Downloaded by [Nanyang Technological University] at 04:58 11 November 2015
showed that educational level was significantly related to performance on the classification, combinatorial analysis (for males only, since only one female scored in the high category), hypothesis testing, and matrices tasks. Since the relationship between childhood educational level and old age performance on the index of fluid intelligence (the matrices task 1 was so strong, the relationship between fluid intelligence and the other cognitive tasks was examined as seen in the lower row of Table 1. As reported in Table 1, Fisher exact probability tests showed that fluid intelligence was significantly related to performance on the classification and hypothesis testing tasks but not on the combinatorial analysis task. Finally, when analyzed as a continuous variable, fluid intelligence was significantly correlated with the number of years of formal education (females, T = 0.78,p 0.05;males, T = -0.37,p > 0.05). Regretfully, since childhood data are lacking, it is not possible to separate the relationships among childhood intellectual functioning, childhood education, old a g e fluid intelligence, and old age cognitive functioning. Also of interest was the fact that lOOcY, of the participants conserved both liquid and mass, thus showing no regression on these two concrete operational tasks. Similar conservation results have been reported previously (e.g., Protinsky & Hughston, 1978) but are not typical (e.g., Papalia, 1972). A g e ( young-old versus old-old) and sex differences were examined but none were found, other than the sex difference noted earlier for the combinatorial analysis task.
In conclusion, as in studies based upon samples of long time residents of the United States, the more highly educated elderly Cuban immigrants performed better on the intellectual tasks than did the lesser educated elderly Cubans. Also of interest was the fact that the old age measure of fluid intelligence, the
Downloaded by [Nanyang Technological University] at 04:58 11 November 2015
154
FINLEY/DELGADO
matrices task, was significantly related to the number of years of formal education as well as to two other indices of cognitive functioning in old age. It is striking to note the degree to which educational level is related to performance on the combinatorial analysis (males only) and matrices tasks while fluid intelligence (matrices task) is so strongly related to the hypothesis testing task. Finally, no evidence for old age regression on the conservation of liquid or the conservation of mass was observed in the present sample.
REFERENCES BOTWINICK, J. Intellectual abilities. In J.E. Birren& K.W. Schaie(Eds.) Handbook of the psychology ofuging. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1977, pp. 580-605. DENNEY, D.R., & DENNEY, N.W. The use of classification for problem solving: A comparison of middle and old age. Developmental Psychology, 1973, (9). 275-278. PAPALIA, D.E. The status of several conservation abilities across the life-span. Human Development, 1972, (15), 229-243. PROTINSKY, H., & HUGHSTON, G. Conservation in elderly males: An empirical investigation. Developmental Psychology, 1978. (14), 114. VERNON, P.E. Intelligence and cultural environment. London: Methuen, 1969.
Received October 21. 1978; Accepted January 25, I979
