Laboratory studies often find gradual age-related declines in performance on a variety of tasks involving short term memory, divided attention, and other cognitive abilities. Our goal is to help mitigate these age-related declines by designing information that enables older adults to draw on their knowledge and experience. We are investigating the following topics: a) the effects of expertise on memory, b) the design of automated messages for health care appointments, c) the effects of aging on text comprehension and memory.
Our research is funded by the National Institute on Aging.
Aviation Expertise, Aging, and Memory
We are currently
investigating how aviation expertise helps to understand Air Traffic Control instructions. We are
interested in the extent to which this expertise reduces any effects of age-related cognitive
declines on communication performance. In order to measure the benefits of expertise, we compare how well
nonpilots as well as pilots of varying ages perform the tasks. We are now focusing on the effects of expertise
and aging on decision-making. Decision-making is an important topic not only because of its
obvious relevance to flight safety, but because theories of real-world decision-making emphasize
the role of knowledge and experience in effective decision-making. Moreover, cognitive aging research
suggests that, unlike cognitive ability, many aspects of knowledge do not decline with age. This study
will probably involve reading flight scenarios on a computer screen and deciding on appropriate
actions. This project is being conducted by
Heather Ridolfo. We still need people to participate, so if you are interested, please
contact Heather at 1-603-868-1749 or email her at the ACRL.
Designing Automated Appointment Messages
Aging and Narrative
Comprehension
We are also investigating effects of
aging on more general aspects of language comprehension and memory. An important part of understanding a narrative is
creating a mental model (or situation model) of the situations or "world" described by the
speaker or writer. To do this, we interpret the narrative in terms of our knowledge
of the world. Researchers have only recently investigated the impact of aging on this situation
model level of comprehension.
We are examining age differences in creating situation models from narratives.
Do older adults use the same or different strategies from younger adults in order to create these
representations? Are they especially likely to rely on situation models in order to maintain
accurate comprehension? This project is conducted in collaboration with Dr. Elizabeth Stine-Morrow, and is conducted in her laboratory, The Cognitive Aging Laboratory at UNH.
If you would to participate, contact Denis Jobin at
1-(603)862-1056.
Last Updated June 14, 2001 by the ACRL
Missed health
care appointments cost the health care industry billions of dollars each year. People miss
appointments for a variety of reasons, such as having to reschedule or because they forget the
appointment. Therefore, reminder messages are becoming more common in the health care field.
In particular, new computer technology allows health organizations to send pre-recorded phone
messages to remind patients about appointments, taking medication, or other services. The goal
of this project is to improve the design of these automated messages so that they are easy to
understand. This in turn should increase the impact of automated messaging systems. We are also interested in factors that influence older adult's use of
automated messaging systems. We have conducted a set of laboratory studies intended to improve
the organization and presentation of appointment messages.