Objective Neuropsychologists often supplement performance-based measures of cognition with self-report questionnaires. One questionnaire—the Measurement of Everyday Cognition (ECog)—has shown promise in differentiating between impaired and non-impaired populations; however, little research has been done specifically on the memory items from the shortened version: the ECog-12. The purpose of this study was to examine the extent to which the Ecog-12 Memory subscale can predict actual cognitive function as measured by a performance-based screening test. Method Older adults (ages 55–90; n = 74) completed the ECog-12 and were administered the Mini-Mental Status Exam—2nd Edition (MMSE-2), with scores dichotomized into normal function and impaired function. Results Binary logistic regression found that the ECog-12 Memory subscale items explained between 57% and 87% of variance in normal/impaired MMSE-2 scores and accurately classified 79.7% of cases. Conclusion Brief self-report measures of everyday memory functioning are sensitive to cognitive decline among older adults.

Objectives: Off-topic verbosity (OTV) refers to prolonged speech that derails from the initial conversational topic by including more loosely associated speech and becoming increasingly more unfocused and distant from the initial topic. Previous research has suggested that, among older adults, loneliness may be associated with greater OTV. The purpose of this study was to investigate the nature of the relationship between loneliness and OTV among young adults ( n = 62) and older adults ( n = 80). Methods: Participants completed a measure of loneliness and provided speech samples, which were transcribed and rated for OTV. Results: Results indicated some relationship between loneliness and tangentiality of speech, particularly among older adults. Discussion: Overall, loneliness may be associated with greater OTV in older adults, which could further explain the connection between increased loneliness and worse health outcomes in older adulthood.