Chapter 2 Cognitive Domains in Low Literacy Populations: The Experience of the Maracaibo Aging Study Eduardo E. Arteaga-Bracho, Jesus D. Melgarejo, Carlos A. Chavez, Joseph D. Terwilliger, Joseph H. Lee, Gloria Pino-Ramirez, and Gladys E. Maestre Introduction Although there is a growing interest in improving cognitive abilities in older adults, there has been considerable variation in how different cognitive domains have been conceptualized over time. Broadly, neuropsychology assumes that cognitive pro- cesses are fundamentally similar across humankind (Nell, 1999), and as such, the manner in which cognitive processes are assessed is similar across cultures (Rivera Mindt, Byrd, Saez, & Manly, 2010). There is much cross-cultural evidence that the structure of intelligence is invariant across cultures but that assessment instruments may need smaller or larger adapta- tions to be applicable across cultural contexts (e.g., Berry et al., 2011). The extent to which adaptations maintain the original intention of the test, while increasing the ability of the test to accurately discriminate ability levels within the new cultural setting, remains controversial. Despite extensive discussion on the universality of cognitive constructs (Berry et al., 2011; Van de Vijver & Poortinga, 1997; Van de Vijver & Leung, 1997), there are very few studies that address the extent to which different tests or batteries of tests are able to measure the same cognitive constructs in a comparable manner across different economic, cultural, and linguistic groups (e.g., Helms-Lorenz et al., 2003). Hui and Triandis (1985) argue that a fundamental challenge in creating equivalence is that the instrument or test items should be similar or the same. In other words, each item on the test should have the same E. E. Arteaga-Bracho · C. A. Chavez · G. Pino-Ramirez Neuroscience Laboratory, University of Zulia, Maracaibo, Venezuela J. D. Melgarejo Neuroscience Laboratory, University of Zulia, Maracaibo, Venezuela Research Unit Hypertension and Cardiovascular Epidemiology, Department of Cardiovascular Sciences, KU University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021 J. L. Angel et al. (eds.), Understanding the Context of Cognitive Aging, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-70119-2_2 13