Multitasking and aging

• Verfasst von: Allen, Philip A. [VerfasserIn]
• Verfasst von: Lien, Mei-Ching [VerfasserIn]
• Verfasst von: Ruthruff, Eric [VerfasserIn]
• Verfasst von: Voß, Andreas [VerfasserIn]
• Titel: Multitasking and aging
• Titelzusatz: Do older adults benefit from performing a highly practiced task?
• Verf.angabe: Philip A. Allen, Mei-Ching Lien, Eric Ruthruff & Andreas Voss
• E-Jahr: 2014
• Jahr: 30 Apr 2014
• Umfang: 28 S.
• Fussnoten: Gesehen am 30.07.2020
• Titel Quelle: Enthalten in: Experimental aging research
• Ort Quelle: London [u.a.] : Taylor & Francis, 1975
• Jahr Quelle: 2014
• Band/Heft Quelle: 40(2014), 3, Seite 280-307
• ISSN Quelle: 1096-4657
• DOI: doi:10.1080/0361073X.2014.896663
• Datenträger: Online-Ressource
• Sprache: eng
• K10plus-PPN: 1725955016

Abstract

Background/Study Context: The present study examined the effect of training on age differences in performing a highly practiced task using the psychological refractory period (PRP) paradigm (Pashler, 1984, Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 10, 358-377). Earlier training studies have concentrated on tasks that are not already overlearned. The present question of interest is whether task dual-task integration will be more efficient when single-task performance is approaching asymptotic levels.Methods: Task 1 was red/green signal discrimination (green = “go” and red = “wait”; analogous to pedestrian signals) and Task 2 was tone discrimination (white noise vs. a horn “honk”; analogous to traffic sound). The stimulus onset asynchrony (SOA) between Task 1 and Task 2 was varied (50, 150, 600, and 1000 ms). All individuals participated in eight sessions spread over 8 weeks (one session per week). Participants completed a dual-task pretest (Week 1), followed by 6 weeks of single-task testing (Weeks 2-7), followed by a dual-task posttest (Week 8).Results and Conclusion: Although older adults showed larger overall dual-task costs (i.e., PRP effects), they were able to reduce the costs with practice as much as younger adults. However, even when training on Task 1 results in asymptotic performance, this still did not lead to an appreciable reduction in dual-task costs. Also, older adults, but not younger adults, responded more rapidly to green stimuli than to red stimuli in the Task 1 training latency data. The authors confirmed this green/go bias using diffusion modeling, which takes into account response time and error rates at the same time. This green/go bias is potentially dangerous at crosswalks, especially when combined with large dual-task interference, and might contribute to the high rate of crosswalk accidents in the elderly.