Aging and response selection in spatial choice tasks.
Factors that make response selection more difficult, most notably incompatibility between displays and controls, degrade performance. The cost of incompatibility on performance is often much greater for older than for younger adults. To design products that accommodate decreased response selection capabilities of older adults, designers need to understand the specific ways in which response selection processes change with age. The purpose of the present paper is to review research on age-related changes in stimulus-response compatibility and response precuing effects, the two effects that are most directly linked to basic response selection processes. Several specific aspects of response selection that are particularly harmful for older adults' performance are identified. Potential applications of this research include initial guidelines for minimizing the effects of those aspects when designing for older adults.
Proctor
Robert W
RW
Department of Psychological Sciences, Purdue University, 703 Third St., West Lafayette, IN 47907-2081, USA. proctor@psych.purdue.edu
Vu
Kim-Phuong L
KP
Pick
David F
DF
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000523:psychology; D002755:Choice Behavior; D003463:Cues; D003626:Data Display; D006804:Ergonomics; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D011597:Psychomotor Performance; D013028:Space Perception