Date of Award

5-2018

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences

Committee Chair

Jessica Huber

Committee Member 1

Jiyeon Lee

Committee Member 2

Courtney Johnson

Abstract

The present study aimed to examine the potential effects of card playing and socialization on cognition. Participants completed a battery of cognitive tests in order to obtain a baseline of cognitive function. Each participant was randomized to one of three training paradigms: group socialization, group card playing, and individual card playing. The socialization group met once a week for an hour for eight weeks and discussed topics of their choice. The card playing groups played Hearts either in a group or on the computer for one hour a week for eight weeks. After eight weeks of their training, participants completed post-testing which consisted of the same battery of cognitive tests in order to measure changes in cognition from pre- to post-testing. The results revealed that participants who were exposed to socialization during training demonstrated the most significant improvements on the cognitive tests. Groups that only received the card playing intervention demonstrated little change. Greatest improvement was seen for those tests that indexed verbal information processing, such as the Cognitive Linguistic Quick Test language domain, the California Verbal Learning Test, and the Excluded Letter Fluency test.

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