Attempts to Modify Cognitive Tempo in Elderly Adults

Abstract

Three experiments were conducted in an attempt to modify the cognitive tempo of elderly adults. In all three, attempts were made to modify response latency. In the first experiment, the participants were given either instructions to take as much time as they needed, instructions to respond as quickly as they could, or no instructions regarding response speed. In the second experiment, the participants observed a model who either responded more slowly, more quickly, or at the same speed typically used by elderly adults. In the third experiment, the participants were either forced to respond very slowly, forced to respond very quickly, or allowed to respond at their own rate. Only one of the experimental manipulations affected response latencies. The participants who were forced to respond very quickly in the third experiment exhibited a decrease in response latency from pretest to posttest while the participants in the other two conditions did not. There was a corresponding effect for errors; the participants in the fast condition exhibited very little change in error rate from pretest to posttest while the participants in the other two conditions made fewer errors on the posttest than on the pretest. In the third experiment, an attempt was also made to modify the error rate by training the participants in the use of a thorough and systematic scanning strategy. The strategy training had no effect on either errors or latencies.