MIDUS 2 Cognitive Project: Telephone-Based Cognitive Battery for U.S. Adults, 2004-2006

Over 86% of participants in the MIDUS II longitudinal study completed the Brief Test of Adult Cognition by Telephone (BTACT), creating a cognitive dataset with unprecedented age, gender, SES, education, and geographic diversity. The data was collected from 2004 to 2006 by researchers at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, led by Carol D. Ryff, to examine links between biopsychosocial factors and cognitive performance across adulthood.

Use Cases

• Modeling cognitive performance across the adult lifespan based on age and education level.
• Investigating the relationship between socioeconomic status (SES) and individual differences in cognitive functioning.
• Analyzing associations between health status, health-promoting behaviors, and cognitive domains measured by the BTACT.
• Studying the impact of psychosocial factors like personality, control beliefs, and depression on midlife cognition.

Strengths

• Longitudinal design with a high response rate of over 86% for the cognitive testing component.
• Nationally representative sample with a wide range of ages (25-74), education levels, and socioeconomic status.
• Includes measures of cognitive speed and reaction time administered via telephone, a novel approach for a national sample at the time.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment for specific modeling tasks.
• Last update date is unknown; freshness unverified.

Provenance

Source

University of Wisconsin–Madison, MacArthur Midlife Research Network, National Institute on Aging

Collection Method

Longitudinal follow-up survey with telephone-administered cognitive battery (BTACT).

Time Range

2004-2006

Geography

United States (national sample)