This thesis was designed to study whether age has a significant effect on cognitive test results among persons exposed to ionizing radiation. The data for this investigation came from the fourth year of a 1995-98 longitudinal study of subjects exposed to radiation from the 1986 Chernobyl, Ukraine, nuclear power plant accident. Accuracy and efficiency scores from four cognitive tests taken by 84 Ukrainian volunteers were divided into two age groups and three radiation dosage groups for analysis. The results of this study found that decrements in human performance on tasks involving spatial processing increase with age in persons who have been exposed to ionizing radiation, but only in efficiency scores. However, no significant age/radiation dose interaction was evident from the ANOVA tests.
","abstract_html":"<p>This thesis was designed to study whether age has a significant effect on cognitive test results among persons exposed to ionizing radiation. The data for this investigation came from the fourth year of a 1995-98 longitudinal study of subjects exposed to radiation from the 1986 Chernobyl, Ukraine, nuclear power plant accident. Accuracy and efficiency scores from four cognitive tests taken by 84 Ukrainian volunteers were divided into two age groups and three radiation dosage groups for analysis. The results of this study found that decrements in human performance on tasks involving spatial processing increase with age in persons who have been exposed to ionizing radiation, but only in efficiency scores. However, no significant age/radiation dose interaction was evident from the ANOVA tests.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Gerhardt, Elizabeth L."],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Science in Human Factors & Systems","degree_level":"Thesis - Open Access","degree_discipline":"Human Factors and Systems","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["John A. Wise","Gerald L. Gamache","John W. Williams"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2000,"date_issued":"2000-08-01T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2000-08-01T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-27T19:25:23Z","subjects":["cognitive performance","ionizing radiation","Cognition and Perception","Ergonomics"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://commons.erau.edu/db-theses/70","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["John A. Wise","Gerald L. Gamache","John W. Williams"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Gerhardt, Elizabeth L."]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Human Factors and Systems"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis - Open Access"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Science in Human Factors & Systems"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["cognitive performance","ionizing radiation","Cognition and Perception","Ergonomics"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://commons.erau.edu/db-theses/70"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["This thesis was designed to study whether age has a significant effect on cognitive test results among persons exposed to ionizing radiation. The data for this investigation came from the fourth year of a 1995-98 longitudinal study of subjects exposed to radiation from the 1986 Chernobyl, Ukraine, nuclear power plant accident. Accuracy and efficiency scores from four cognitive tests taken by 84 Ukrainian volunteers were divided into two age groups and three radiation dosage groups for analysis. The results of this study found that decrements in human performance on tasks involving spatial processing increase with age in persons who have been exposed to ionizing radiation, but only in efficiency scores. However, no significant age/radiation dose interaction was evident from the ANOVA tests.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["An Analysis of the Influence of Age and Ionizing Radiation on Cognitive Performance"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["John A. Wise","Gerald L. Gamache","John W. Williams"],"dc:creator":["Gerhardt, Elizabeth L."],"dc:description.abstract":["This thesis was designed to study whether age has a significant effect on cognitive test results among persons exposed to ionizing radiation. The data for this investigation came from the fourth year of a 1995-98 longitudinal study of subjects exposed to radiation from the 1986 Chernobyl, Ukraine, nuclear power plant accident. Accuracy and efficiency scores from four cognitive tests taken by 84 Ukrainian volunteers were divided into two age groups and three radiation dosage groups for analysis. The results of this study found that decrements in human performance on tasks involving spatial processing increase with age in persons who have been exposed to ionizing radiation, but only in efficiency scores. However, no significant age/radiation dose interaction was evident from the ANOVA tests.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://commons.erau.edu/db-theses/70"],"dc:subject":["cognitive performance","ionizing radiation","Cognition and Perception","Ergonomics"],"dc:title":["An Analysis of the Influence of Age and Ionizing Radiation on Cognitive Performance"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Human Factors and Systems"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis - Open Access"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Science in Human Factors & Systems"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-27T19:25:23Z"}