Details Pertaining to Army Alpha Examination


Principal Investigator:Alan Zonderman
Collaborating Investigators: David Arenberg
Year First Collected: 1960
Year Last Collected: 1980
Frequency of Collection: 1st, 5th, 9th, 13th... visit
Subset Data Files on the VMS Cluster? Files info221.*, Inactive as of 11/97. For access to these data, please contact Dr. Paul Costa or Dr. Alan Zonderman.

Data Type Notes: DESCRIPTIVE HISTORY:

The Army Alpha Examination (forms A and B) is a combination of the five forms of Alpha used in the United States Army during World War I. The questions best for general use were selected by order-of-merit method. Items addressed specifically to male recruits were excluded and military terms were modified.

Form A of this paper-and-pencil examination, consisting of eight subtests, was administered to all subjects beginning in 1960. Form B was administered on visit five (six to eight years later), and Form A repeated on visit nine; the two forms were given alternatively on all subsequent visits. When subjects reached age 70 and was tested every year, the form of the test given on the last previous visit was repeated. A speed score was obtained for each subtest by stopping the subject after the time specified, while a power score was obtained by permitting the subject to spend as much time as he or she wanted in completing each test.

DATA COLLECTION INSTRUMENT, METHOD, OR MEDIUM:

The test was administered and scored using the standard published instructions.

RELATED PROTOCOLS:

None

Inclusion & exclusion rules: None

Publications using these data:

Alan Zonderman abz@lpc.grc.nia.nih.gov
Chief, Research Resources Branch, National Institute on Aging, NIH

JM - Disclaimer

Revised 12/09/98 -- Send comments to our Web Master .