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Information Processing in Older Versus Younger Adults: Accuracy Versus Speed

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International Journal of Rehabilitation and Health

Abstract

Younger adults generally perform better than older adults on memory tasks with reduced processing speed proposed as a mediating factor. However, processing speed often gets confounded with accuracy. To overcome this confound and quantify age-related changes in information processing speed, the current study used a specially developed computer program that held performance accuracy constant while measuring speed of processing. Twelve older (mean age = 77) and younger (mean age = 27) subjects participated in this study. Older subjects processed both visual (mean = 3860) and auditory (mean = 3400) information more slowly than did younger subjects (mean = 1680 and mean = 2070, respectively). No modality-specific differences in processing speed were present. Importantly, older subjects' mean accuracy levels were similar to that of younger subjects. These findings suggest that processing speed may be a critical determinant in working memory impairments in the elderly. However, individualized rates of information presentation could allow older subjects to perform as accurately as younger subjects.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, William Paterson University, Wayne, New Jersey

    B. J. Diamond

  2. Neuropsychology/Neuroscience Laboratory, Kessler Medical Rehabilitation, Research and Education Corporation, West Orange, New Jersey

    B. J. Diamond & J. DeLuca

  3. Center for Research in Complementary and Alternative Medicine, West Orange, New Jersey

    B. J. Diamond, D. Rosenthal, R. Vlad, K. Davis, G. Lucas, O. Noskin & J. A. Richards

  4. Outcomes Laboratory, West Orange, New Jersey

    B. J. Diamond

  5. Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School, Newark, New Jersey

    B. J. Diamond & J. DeLuca

  6. Department of Neurosciences, UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School, Newark, New Jersey

    J. DeLuca

  7. Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York

    O. Noskin

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  1. B. J. Diamond
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  2. J. DeLuca
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Diamond, B.J., DeLuca, J., Rosenthal, D. et al. Information Processing in Older Versus Younger Adults: Accuracy Versus Speed. International Journal of Rehabilitation and Health 5, 55–64 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1012911203468

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