Presented is a symposium session sponsored by the Human Factors in Aging Technical Interest Group which features recent findings from research designed to quantify and explain slowing of behavior with increasing age. Highlighted are experiments and data analyses conducted in the Laboratory of Attention and Motor Behavior (University of Southern California) and the Aging and Ergonomics Laboratory (University of Hawaii), especially four master's theses: a cross-sectional laboratory experiment and three studies which analyzed data from the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging (BLSA).
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
BirrenJ. E.VercruyssenM.FisherLaurel M. (1990). Aging and speed of behavior: Its scientific and practical significance. The 1990 Sandoz lectures in gerontology (pp. 3–23). New York: Academic Press.
2.
BirrenJ. E.WoodsAnita M.WilliamsM. V. (1980). Behavioral slowing with age: Causes, organization, and consequences. In PoonL. W. (Ed.), Aging in the 1980s: Selected contemporary issues in the psychology of aging (293–308). Washington, D.C.: American Psychological Association.
3.
BotwinickJ.BrinleyJ.F.BirrenJ.E. (1957). Set in relation to age. Journal of Gerontology, 12, 300–305.
4.
BrogmusG. E. (1991). Effects of age and sex on speed and accuracy of hand movements and the refinements they suggest for Fitts' Law. Master's thesis in Human Factors. Los Angeles: University of Southern California.
5.
CerellaJ. (1985). Information processing rates in the elderly. Psychological Bulletin, 98, 67–83.
6.
ChangJ-Y. (1991). Cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses of set in relation to age. Master's thesis in Occupational Safety and Health. Los Angeles: University of Southern California.
7.
CharnessN.BosmanE. A. (1990). Human factors and design for older adults. In BirrenJ. E.SchaieK. W. (Eds.), Handbook of the Psychology of Aging, 3rd ed. (pp. 446–462. New York: Academic Press.
8.
EraP. (1987). Sensory, psychomotor, and motor functions in men of different ages. Scandinavian Journal of Social Medicine, Supplement 39.
9.
EraP.JokelaJ.HoikkinenE. (1986). Reaction and movement times in men of different ages: A population study. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 63, 111–130.
10.
FerrisS.CrookT.SathananthanG.GershonS. (1976). Reaction time as a diagnostic measure in senility. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 24(12), 529–533.
11.
FozardJ. L.VercruyssenM.ReynoldsSara L.HancockP. A. (1990). Longitudinal analysis of age-related slowing: BLSA reaction time data. Proceedings of the Human Factors Society–34th Annual Meeting (pp. 163–167). Santa Monica, CA: Human Factors Society.
12.
GreatorexGretchen L. (1991). Aging and speed of behavior: CNS arousal and reaction time distribution analyses. Master's thesis in Human Factors. Los Angeles: University of Southern California.
13.
McDowdJoan M.VercruyssenM.BirrenJ. E. (1991). Aging, divided attention, and dual-task performance. In DamosD. L. (Ed.), Multiple-task performance.London: Taylor & Francis, in press.
14.
SalthouseT. A. (1985). Speed of behavior and its implications for cognition. In BirrenJ. E.SchaieK. W. (Eds.), Handbook of the psychology of aging, 2nd ed. (pp. 400–426). New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold.
15.
ReynoldsSara L. (1991). Longitudinal analysis of age changes in speed of behavior. Master's thesis in Human Factors. Los Angeles: University of Southern California.
16.
SpirdusoWaneen W.MacRaePriscilla G. (1990). Motor performance and aging. In BirrenJ. E.SchaieK. W. (Eds.), Handbook of the psychology of aging, 3rd ed. (pp. 183–200). New York: Academic Press.
17.
WelfordA. T. (1977). Motor performance. In BirrenJ. E.SchaieK. W. (Eds.), Handbook of the psychology of aging, 2nd ed. (pp. 450–496). New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold.
