Influencia de los programas universitarios para mayores sobre la mejora del rendimiento cognitivo
ISSN: 2340-7719
Year of publication: 2016
Issue Title: 4th International Conference on the Elderly and New Technologies/IV Jornadas Internacionales de Mayores y Nuevas Tecnologías
Issue: 3
Pages: 71-77
Type: Article
More publications in: Ariadna: cultura, educación y tecnología
Abstract
The aim of this paper is to apply a rigorous econometric approach to analyze the benefits derived from participation in Third Age University Programs (3AUP). Two waves from the SHARE (Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe) corresponding to 2007 and 2011 are used. This survey contains information concerning the degree of satisfaction with life and allows to define indicators for cognitive achievement in memory, vocabulary and fluency. A sample of individuals aged between 50 and 85 years old is selected. The percentage of participants in 3AUP has increased from 3.25 % to 5.47 %, which represents an average growth rate of 13.90 %. For the sample of all respondents we appreciate that: (i) the probability of retaining 10-14 words in the memory test increases by 0.34 points for participants in 3AUP, (ii) the probability of developing a list with at least twenty words increases by 0.45 points for participants in 3AUP, and it attains a maximum of 0.88 point for participants with high school education.