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Related Experiment Videos

On mental multiplication and age.

P A Allen1, M H Ashcraft, T A Weber

  • 1Department of Psychology, Cleveland State University, Ohio 44115.

Psychology and Aging
|December 1, 1992
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

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Older adults showed slower reaction times in mental arithmetic tasks but did not exhibit age-related deficits in problem size or split size effects. This suggests skilled cognitive processes in arithmetic are preserved with age.

Area of Science:

  • Cognitive Psychology
  • Neuroscience
  • Human Development

Background:

  • Mental arithmetic involves complex cognitive processes, including memory retrieval and decision-making.
  • Aging can impact cognitive functions, potentially affecting performance in tasks like mental arithmetic.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the effects of aging on mental arithmetic performance.
  • To examine whether age interacts with factors like problem size and answer deviation in arithmetic tasks.

Main Methods:

  • Two experiments were conducted presenting simple multiplication problems for timed true/false judgments.
  • Reaction times were recorded and analyzed in relation to problem size, answer accuracy, and answer relatedness.

Main Results:

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  • Reaction time increased with problem size and was slower for near-miss answers and related incorrect answers, consistent with prior research.
  • Older adults were generally slower than younger adults in their judgments.
  • Crucially, age did not significantly interact with problem size or split size effects.

Conclusions:

  • Despite overall slower performance, older adults did not show age-related deficits in core mental arithmetic processes.
  • The skilled nature of simple arithmetic may protect central cognitive functions like memory retrieval and decision-making from typical age-related decline.