Relationship between mental functioning and specific measures of social interaction

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  • “Spending just 10 minutes talking to another person can help you improve your memory and your performance on tests.”
  • “In one study, they examined ISR survey data to see whether there was a relationship between mental functioning and specific measures of social interaction. The survey data included information on a national, stratified area probability sample of 3,610 people between the ages of 24 and 96. Their mental function was assessed through the mini-mental exam, a widely used test that measures knowledge of personal information and current events, and that also includes a simple test of working memory.
  • Participants’ level of social interactions was assessed by asking how often each week they talked on the phone with friends, neighbors, and relatives, and how often they got together.
  • After controlling for a wide range of demographic variables, including age, education, race/ethnicity, gender, marital status, and income, as well as for physical health and depression, the researchers looked at the connection between frequency of social contact and level of mental function on the mini-mental exam.
  • The higher the level of participants’ social interaction, researchers found, the better their cognitive functioning. This relationship was reliable for all age groups, from the youngest through the oldest.”

Assume that the causal relationship in the article is that lower intellectual abilities lead to more social isolation. How might you be able to make the same argument for this direction of causality? In doing so, how does it change the relationship between the variables?

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