The influence of expertise and task factors on age differences in pilot communication.

The influence of expertise and task factors on age differences in a simulated pilot–Air Traffic Control (ATC) communication task was examined. Young, middle-aged, and older pilots and nonpilots listened to ATC messages that described a route through an airspace, during which they referred to a chart of this airspace. Participants read back each message and then answered a probe question about the route. It was found that pilots read back messages more accurately than nonpilots, and younger participants were more accurate than older participants. Age differences were not reduced for pilots. Pilots and younger participants also answered probes more accurately, suggesting that they were better able to interpret the ATC messages in terms of the chart in order to create a situation model of the flight. The findings suggest that expertise benefits occur for adults of all ages. High levels of flying experience among older pilots (as compared with younger pilots) helped to buffer age-related declines in cognitive resources, thus providing evidence for the mediating effects of experience on age differences. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Environmental support promotes expertise-based mitigation of age differences on pilot communication tasks.

The authors investigated whether expertise is more likely to mitigate age declines when experts rely on environmental support in a pilot/Air Traffic Control (ATC) communication task. Pilots and nonpilots listened to ATC messages that described a route through an airspace, while they referred to a chart of the airspace. They read back (repeated) each message and then answered a probe question about the route. In a preliminary study, participants could take notes while listening to the messages and performing the read-back and probe tasks. In Experiment 1, opportunity to take notes was manipulated. Note taking determined when expertise mitigated age differences on the read-back task. With note taking, read-back accuracy declined with age for nonpilots but not for pilots. Without note taking, similar age-related declines occurred for pilots and nonpilots. Benefits of expertise, younger age, and note taking occurred for probe accuracy, but mitigation did not occur. The findings suggest that older adults take advantage of a domain-relevant form of environmental support (note taking) to maintain performance on some complex tasks despite typical age-related declines in cognitive ability. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"Task control and cognitive abilities of self and spouse in collaboration in middle-aged and older couples": Erratum.

Reports an error in "Task control and cognitive abilities of self and spouse in collaboration in middle-aged and older couples" by Cynthia A. Berg, Timothy W. Smith, Kelly J. Ko, Nancy J. M. Henry, Paul Florsheim, Gale Pearce, Bert N. Uchino, Michelle A. Skinner, Ryan M. Beveridge, Nathan Story and Kelly Glazer (Psychology and Aging, 2007[Sep], Vol 22[3], 420-427). Due to an editing mistake, the order of authorship was incorrect. The correct order is as follows: Berg, Smith, Ko, Beveridge, Story, Henry, Florsheim, Pearce, Uchino, Skinner, & Glazer. (The following abstract of the original article appeared in record 2007-13103-002.) Collaborative problem solving may be used by older couples to optimize cognitive functioning, with some suggestion that older couples exhibit greater collaborative expertise. The study explored age differences in 2 aspects of collaborative expertise: spouses' knowledge of their own and their spouse's cognitive abilities and the ability to fit task control to these cognitive abilities. The participants were 300 middle-aged and older couples who completed a hypothetical errand task. The interactions were coded for control asserted by husbands and wives. Fluid intelligence was assessed, and spouses rated their own and their spouse's cognitive abilities. The results revealed no age differences in couple expertise, either in the ability to predict their own and their spouse's cognitive abilities or in the ability to fit task control to abilities. However, gender differences were found. Women fit task control to their own and their spouse's cognitive abilities; men only fit task control to their spouse's cognitive abilities. For women only, the fit between control and abilities was associated with better performance. The results indicate no age differences in couple expertise but point to gender as a factor in optimal collaboration. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Task control and cognitive abilities of self and spouse in collaboration in middle-aged and older couples.

[Correction Notice: An erratum for this article was reported in Vol 22(4) of Psychology and Aging (see record 2007-18670-006). Due to an editing mistake, the order of authorship was incorrect. The correct order is as follows: Berg, Smith, Ko, Beveridge, Story, Henry, Florsheim, Pearce, Uchino, Skinner, & Glazer.] Collaborative problem solving may be used by older couples to optimize cognitive functioning, with some suggestion that older couples exhibit greater collaborative expertise. The study explored age differences in 2 aspects of collaborative expertise: spouses' knowledge of their own and their spouse's cognitive abilities and the ability to fit task control to these cognitive abilities. The participants were 300 middle-aged and older couples who completed a hypothetical errand task. The interactions were coded for control asserted by husbands and wives. Fluid intelligence was assessed, and spouses rated their own and their spouse's cognitive abilities. The results revealed no age differences in couple expertise, either in the ability to predict their own and their spouse's cognitive abilities or in the ability to fit task control to abilities. However, gender differences were found. Women fit task control to their own and their spouse's cognitive abilities; men only fit task control to their spouse's cognitive abilities. For women only, the fit between control and abilities was associated with better performance. The results indicate no age differences in couple expertise but point to gender as a factor in optimal collaboration. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of Age and Hypertension Status on Cognition: The Veterans Affairs Normative Aging Study.

The authors examined the influence of age and hypertensive status (normotensive, controlled, untreated, or uncontrolled) on several cognitive tests via multiple regression in 357 nondemented, community-dwelling older men (mean age = 67 years) whose hypertensive status was stable over 3 years and who had no medical comorbidities. Age was negatively associated with performance on all but 1 test. Age interacted with hypertensive status on verbal fluency and word list immediate recall; older uncontrolled hypertensives exhibited significantly larger age decrements on these tests compared with normotensives. These findings suggest that uncontrolled hypertension produces specific cognitive deficits beyond those attributable to age alone. These and previous findings illustrate that health conditions such as hypertension should be regularly considered in studies of "normal" cognitive aging. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Correction to Emery, Hale, and Myerson (2008).

Reports an error in "Age differences in proactive interference, working memory, and abstract reasoning" by Lisa Emery, Sandra Hale and Joel Myerson (Psychology and Aging, 2008[Sep], Vol 23[3], 634-645). The original article contained an incorrect DOI. The correct DOI is as follows: 10.1037/a0012577. (The following abstract of the original article appeared in record 2008-13050-014.) It has been hypothesized that older adults are especially susceptible to proactive interference (PI) and that this may contribute to age differences in working memory performance. In young adults, individual differences in PI affect both working memory and reasoning ability, but the relations between PI, working memory, and reasoning in older adults have not been examined. In the current study, young, old, and very old adults performed a modified operation span task that induced several cycles of PI buildup and release as well as two tests of abstract reasoning ability. Age differences in working memory scores increased as PI built up, consistent with the hypothesis that older adults are more susceptible to PI, but both young and older adults showed complete release from PI. Young adults' reasoning ability was best predicted by working memory performance under high PI conditions, replicating M. Bunting (2006). In contrast, older adults' reasoning ability was best predicted by their working memory performance under low PI conditions, thereby raising questions regarding the general role of susceptibility to PI in differences in higher cognitive function among older adults. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cross-sectional and incremental changes in working memory and mathematical problem solving.

Cross-sectional and incremental age effects on cognitive processes that underlie individual differences in components of working memory (WM; phonological loop, visual-spatial sketchpad, executive processing) and mathematical problem-solving accuracy were examined in elementary schoolchildren. A battery of tests was administered that assessed problem solving, achievement, memory, and cognitive processing (inhibition, speed, phonological coding) in children in Grades 1, 2, and 3 (Wave 1) and 1 year later (Wave 2). The results showed that (a) 31% of the explainable within-person changes across testing waves and 42% of the age-related differences in word problem-solving accuracy were related to executive processing and (b) executive processing and reading performance in Year 1 were the only variables that contributed unique variance to Year 2 problem-solving performance. The results support the notion that growth in the executive system is an important predictor of children's problem solving abilities beyond the contribution of reading and calculation skills and that growth in executive processing can operate independently of individual differences in phonological processing, inhibition, and processing speed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

How do health and biological age influence chronological age and sex differences in cognitive aging: Moderating, mediating, or both?

Much research on cognitive competence in normal older adults has documented age and sex differences. The authors used new cross-sectional data from the Victoria Longitudinal Study (VLS) (n = 386; age 61 to 95 years) to examine how health and biological age influence age and sex differences in cognitive aging. The authors found evidence for both moderating and mediating influences. Age differences were moderated by health status, such that the negative effects of age were most pronounced among participants of relatively better health. Sex differences were moderated by health and were more pronounced among participants reporting comparatively poorer health. Although health mediated a notable amount of age-related cognitive variation, BioAge mediated considerably more variance, even after statistical control for differences in health. A complex pattern emerged for the mediation of sex differences: Although BioAge accounted for sex-related variation in cognitive performance, health operated to suppress these differences. Overall, both health and BioAge predicted cognitive variation independently of chronological age. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Aging, vascular risk, and cognition: Blood glucose, pulse pressure, and cognitive performance in healthy adults.

Advanced age is associated with decline in many areas of cognition as well as increased frequency of vascular disease. Well-described risk factors for vascular disease, such as diabetes and arterial hypertension, have been linked to cognitive deficits beyond those associated with aging. To examine whether vascular health indices such as fasting blood glucose levels and arterial pulse pressure can predict subtle deficits in age-sensitive abilities, the authors studied 104 healthy adults (ages 18 to 78) without diagnoses of diabetes or hypertension. Whereas results revealed a classic pattern of age-related differences in cognition, preprandial blood glucose level and pulse pressure independently and differentially affected cognitive performance. High-normal blood glucose levels were associated with decreased delayed associative memory, reduced accuracy of working memory processing among women, and slower working memory processing among men. Elevated pulse pressure was associated with slower perceptual–motor processing. Results suggest that blood glucose levels and pulse pressure may be sensitive indicators of cognitive status in healthy adults; however, longitudinal research is needed to determine whether such relatively mild elevations in this select group predict age-related cognitive declines. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Age, attention, expertise, and time-sharing performance.

Time-sharing efficiency and resource allocation from a group of pilots with expertise in time-sharing and a group of nonpilots (ages 20–79 years) were examined. Participants performed 5 dual tasks that represented different degrees of structural similarity as characterized by the structure-specific resource model. Age, expertise, and structural similarity were found to interactively affect time-sharing performance through attentional resources. Age-related deficits in time-sharing were evident under conditions of intense attentional demands and when precise control was required. Modest expertise modulation of the age effects is likely to increase with more domain-specific time-sharing. The structure-specific resource model provided a useful framework for interpreting the relationship between aging and time-sharing performance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Verbal knowledge, working memory, and processing speed as predictors of verbal learning in older adults.

The present study aimed at modeling individual differences in a verbal learning task by means of a latent structured growth curve approach based on an exponential function that yielded 3 parameters: initial recall, learning rate, and asymptotic performance. Three cognitive variables—speed of information processing, verbal knowledge, working memory—and the participant's age were included in the model in order to explain individual differences in the learning parameters. The data come from the second wave of the Zurich Longitudinal Study on Cognitive Aging (D. Zimprich, Martin, et al., 2008) comprising 334 participants ranging in age from 66 to 81 years (M = 74.43, SD = 4.41). Among the logistic, the Gompertz, and the hyperbolic function, the exponential function described the data best. Reliable individual differences were found in all 3 learning parameters. The cognitive predictor variables affected the verbal learning parameters differentially: All 3 predictors affected positively initial recall, the asymptotic performance increased with better working memory and faster processing speed, and the learning rate was positively associated with verbal knowledge only. Age did not affect the learning parameters but correlated negatively with working memory and processing speed. The finding of large and reliable individual differences in learning is seen as evidence that the potential for positive change, or plasticity in adulthood is maintained and that it is worthwhile to enhance the determinants of learning or learning itself. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Age differences in the accuracy of confidence judgments

Age differences in accuracy were investigated by having older (M = 68.6 years) and younger (M = 21.5 years) adults make confidence judgments about the correctness of their responses to two sets of general knowledge items. For one set, prior to making their confidence judgments, subjects made mental strategy judgements indicating how they had selected their answers (i.e., they guessed, used intuition, made an inference, or immediately recognized the response as correct). Results indicate that older subjects were more accurate than younger subjects in predicting the correctness of their responses; however, making mental strategy judgments did not result in increased accuracy for either age group. Additional analyses explored the relationship between accuracy and other individual difference variables. The results of this investigation are consistent with recent theories of postformal cognitive development that suggest older adults have greater insight into the limitations of their knowledge.     

Sustained attention in adulthood: A unique, large-sample, longitudinal and multicohort analysis using the Mackworth Clock-Test.

A cross-sectional sample of men (n?=?177) tested in 1962–1964, and men (n?=?188) and women (n?=?113) tested in 1980–1984, and a longitudinal sample (n?=?53) of men tested in 1962–1964 and 1980–1984, were used to investigate age differences and 18-year age changes on a 62-min sensory vigilance task that made virtually no demand on memory, the Mackworth Clock-Test. Age differences and changes in the vigilance decrement were also examined. No age differences or changes were obtained for detection accuracy. Target response time showed significant age-related 18-year longitudinal changes and one significant cross-sectional age difference; the overall age effect was of a U-shaped function with a minimum at middle age. Age differences and changes were obtained in a measure of arousal: skin potential response latency; the overall age effect was also consistent with a U-shaped function. There was little consistent evidence of a differential effect of age on the vigilance decrement. Outcomes contradictory to Surwillo and Quilter (1964) and Quilter, Giambra, and Benson (1983) are reconciled through additional statistical analyses. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Expertise and age-related changes in components of intelligence.

In a sample of 263 male GO players at 48 levels of expertise and ranging from 18 to 78 years of age, it was found that factors of expertise deductive reasoning (EDR) and expertise working memory (EWM) were independent of factors of fluid reasoning (Gf) and short-term working memory (STWM) that, along with cognitive speed (Gs), have been found to characterize decline of intelligence in adulthood. The main effects of analyses of cross-sectional age differences indicated age-related decline in EDR and EWM as well as in Gf, STWM, and Gs. However, interaction and partialing analyses indicated that decline in EDR and EWM decreased to no decline with increase in level of expertise. The results thus suggest that with increase in factors known to raise the level of expertise—particularly, intensive, well-designed practice there may be no age-related decline in the intelligence that is measured in the abilities of expertise. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Action of serotonin on the laryngeal airway in anaesthetized cats

BACKGROUND: Electroencephalography (EEG) screening of pilot candidates has long been established but remains controversial. The EEG records of 0-15% of the test population demonstrate the presence of brief periods of slow waves (theta, 4-7.9 Hz and delta, 0-3.9 Hz). The significance of these EEG findings for pilot selection has not been defined. HYPOTHESIS: We investigated whether the existence of slow waves in the EEG records of cadet pilots was related to differences in their cognitive performance. If so, the EEG could serve as a tool for cognitive assessment in candidate pilot screening. The relationship between spontaneous EEG slowing and cognitive performance has not been investigated although there is evidence of EEG slowing during the performance of short-term memory tasks. METHODS: Some 116 screening EEG records were re-evaluated for the presence of slow wave activity. Cadets with positive records and a control group performed: a) a modified version of Sternberg's visual memory scanning task on a PC computer; and b) the auditory "OddBall" behavioral task for eliciting the P300 evoked response using the Nicolet Spirit Evoked Potential System. RESULTS: Analysis of the behavioral and electrophysiological data was divided in EEG groups: a) Normal; b) Bilateral slowing only during hyperventilation; c) Bilateral slowing; d) Slowing with right dominance; and e) Slowing with left dominance, showed no significant difference among the groups for all parameters measured. CONCLUSIONS: Brief periods of bilateral or focal EEG slow activity in the records of pilot cadets could not predict differences in cognitive function as this was assessed in these experiments. Specific neuropsychological screening procedures might be more valuable for this purpose than the standard EEG screening.     

The world of competitive Scrabble: Novice and expert differences in visuopatial and verbal abilities.

Competitive Scrabble players spend a mean of 4.5 hr a week memorizing words from the official Scrabble dictionary. When asked if they learn word meanings when studying word lists, only 6.4% replied "always," with the rest split between "sometimes" and "rarely or never." Number of years of play correlated positively with expertise ratings, suggesting that expertise develops with practice. To determine the effect of hours of practice (M = 1,904), the authors compared experts with high-achieving college students on a battery of cognitive tests. Despite reporting that they usually memorize word lists without learning meanings, experts defined more words correctly. Reaction times on a lexical decision task (controlling for age) correlated with expertise ratings, suggesting that experts develop faster access to word identification. Experts' superiority on visuospatial processing was found for reaction time on 1 of 3 visuospatial tests. In a study of memory for altered Scrabble boards, experts outperformed novices, with differences between high and low expertise on memory for boards with structure-deforming transformations. Expert Scrabble players showed superior performance on selected verbal and visuospatial tasks that correspond to abilities that are implicated in competitive play. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

On the locus and process of magnification of age differences during mnemonic training.

The focus of this study was on developmental reserve capacity in old age as revealed by testing-the-limits. Examined were (1) the time course of training-related magnification of age differences in serial word recall and (2) predictability of training gains by pretest individual differences in cognitive abilities. In 20 sessions, young (n?=?18) and old (n?=?19) adults were taught to recall lists of 30 words using the Method of Loci. Age differences were magnified early in practice at long presentation times (20 sec and 15 sec per word) and later at 5 sec per word. Regression of posttraining scores on various pretraining abilities revealed significant effects of digit symbol substitution. Also, consistent with the assumption of age-related decline in developmental reserve capacity, the unique variance in serial word recall associated with age group became more salient as the training unfolded. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Testing-the-limits and the study of adult age differences in cognitive plasticity of a mnemonic skill.

Investigated the range and limits of cognitive reserve capacity as a general approach to the understanding of age differences in cognitive functioning. Testing-the-limits is proposed as a research strategy. Data are reported from 2 training studies involving old (65 to 83 years old) and young adults (19 to 29 years old). The training, designed to engineer an expertise in serial word recall, involved instruction and practice in the Method of Loci. Substantial plasticity was evident in pretest to posttest comparisons. Participants raised their serial word recall several times above that of pretest baseline. Age-differential limits in reserve capacity were evident in amount of training gain but not in responses to conditions of increased test difficulty (speeded stimulus presentation). Group differences were magnified by the training to such a degree that age distributions barely overlapped at posttests. Testing-the-limits offers promise in terms of understanding the extent and nature of cognitive plasticity. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The emotional blink: Adult age differences in visual attention to emotional information.

To assess age differences in attention-emotion interactions, the authors asked young adults (ages 18-33 years) and older adults (ages 60-80 years) to identify target words in a rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) task. The second of two target words was neutral or emotional in content (positive in Experiment 1, negative in Experiment 2). In general, the ability to identify targets from a word stream declined with age. Age differences specific to the attentional blink were greatly reduced when baseline detection accuracy was equated between groups. With regard to emotion effects, older adults showed enhanced identification of both positive and negative words relative to neutral words, whereas young adults showed enhanced identification of positive words and reduced identification of negative words. Together these findings suggest that the nature of attention-emotion interactions changes with age, but there was little support for a motivational shift consistent with emotional regulation goals at an early stage of cognitive processing. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)