Age-Related Differences in the Training and Retention of Skilled Dual-Task Performance

Abstract

Twenty-four young (M = 21) and 24 old (M = 71) adults participated in a study designed to assess age-related differences in the training and retention of skilled DT performance. Participants received one session of ST training on two consistently-mapped (CM) visual search tasks followed by two additional sessions of training on the DT combination. Subsequent to the end of training, a single session of retention testing was provided after a one month retention interval. The use of an adaptive multiple frame procedure during ST training assured that each participant operated at his or her limits of perceptual processing. Three different task speeds (slow, medium and fast) were then constructed to fit each individual's perceptual search abilities during DT processing. The results of the experiment indicated that, in spite of differences between age groups in the speed of perceptual processing required to perform the dual-task, older adults still exhibited marked decrements in DT performance when compared to ST baseline levels. Further, there was no interaction with task speed suggesting that speed of processing fails to adequately explain age-related dual-task performance decrements