Does variability increase with age? An archival study of cognitive measures.

Abstract

It is often asserted that older people are more variable than younger people; however, the published data do not always support this statement. To examine directly the applicability of the assertion, measures of reaction time (RT), memory, and intelligence from studies published in Psychology and Aging and the Journal of Gerontology from 1986 to 1990 were examined. The coefficients of variability calculated from data published in studies in which a group of younger people was compared with a group of older people indicated that variability was greater among older participants on measures of RT, memory, and fluid intelligence but not crystallized intelligence. Further examination of data bearing on relative variability is indicated.

The influence of age on the take-over of vehicle control in highly automated driving

“…It is difficult to generalize these results to the population of older drivers in general since the cognitive decline is highly variable in its degree (Deary et al, 2009;Hultsch et al, 2002;Morse, 1993). Also, as already mentioned, a selection bias might exist in this study so that only cognitively very fit older participants might have taken part.…”

“…Additionally, their visual search is altered (Maltz & Shinar, 1999), older drivers make more mistakes in estimating the speed of other vehicles (Scialfa, Guzy, Leibowitz, Garvey, & Tyrrell, 1991), they take longer to switch tasks (Kray & Lindenberger, 2000), and solve novel problems worse (Baltes, Staudinger, & Lindenberger, 1999). However, although every aging individual is affected by this decline, its speed and intensity vary strongly between them (Hultsch, MacDonald, & Dixon, 2002) and this variability, in addition, increases with age (Morse, 1993). Hertzog et al (2008) describe the decline as a "zone of possible functioning" (p. 1) whose borders are set by person-specific endowments and age-related constraints.…”

The cognitive neuroscience of ageing

“…It is well known that measures of behavioral performance, such as response times, are variable both between and within individuals 120,211,212 and that behavioral variability is higher in children and older adults relative to younger adults [213][214][215][216] . In aging, behavioral variability also can serve as a marker for cognitive decline 217,218 , and increases prior to death 219 .…”

What Older Adults Can Teach Us About Designing Better Ballots

“…This approach implies that designs that accommodate the capabilities and limitations of older adults -a group that is more variable than any other age group with regard to both interindividual (e.g., Morse, 1993) and intraindividual differences (e.g., Krampe, Engbert, & Kliegl, 2001) and more sensitive to slight design and interface distinctions because of physical, perceptual, and cognitive changes associated with age -should make systems more user-friendly for all (also see Kroemer, 2006). This approach of attending particularly to the needs of older users is logical because people are living longer thanks FEATURE AT A GLANCE: In this article, we examine the interplay between electronic voting technology machine types (touchscreen vs. touchscreen + keypad) and ballot designs (full ballot vs. one office per page) that together comprise the interface to which voters are exposed.…”