title: Cognitive aging: is there a dark side to environmental support?
abstract: It has been known for some time that memory deficits among older adults increase when self-initiated processing is required and decrease when the environment provides task-appropriate cues. We propose that this observation is not confined to memory but can be subsumed under a more general developmental trend. In perception, learning or memory, and action management, older adults often rely more on external information than younger adults do, probably both as a direct reflection and indirect adaptation to difficulties in internally triggering and maintaining cognitive representations. This age-graded shift from internal towards environmental control is often associated with compromised performance. Cognitive aging research and the design of aging-friendly environments can benefit from paying closer attention to the developmental dynamics and implications of this shift.
authors.affiliation: Center for Lifespan Psychology, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin, Germany. Electronic address: lindenberger@mpib-berlin.mpg.de.
authors.forename: Ulman
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Lindenberger
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR, USA. Electronic address: mayr@uoregon.edu.
authors.forename: Ulrich
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Mayr
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000503:physiopathology*; D003463:Cues; D004777:Environment; D056344:Executive Function / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans
keywords: cognitive aging; cognitive control; environmental support; self-initiated processing