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Related Experiment Videos

The effect of instructions on age differences in practical problem solving.

N W Denney1, T L Tozier, C A Schlotthauer

  • 1Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Journal of Gerontology
|May 1, 1992
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

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Young adults may not try their best on everyday problems unless told to. Explicit instructions showed young adults performed as well as middle-aged adults, highlighting motivation

Area of Science:

  • Cognitive psychology
  • Adult development

Background:

  • Previous research indicates middle-aged adults excel at practical problem-solving compared to younger or older adults.
  • A hypothesis suggests young adults may underperform due to lower effort expenditure.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the role of effort in young adults' practical problem-solving abilities.
  • To compare the performance of young, middle-aged, and elderly adults on everyday problems under varying instruction conditions.

Main Methods:

  • Participants included young, middle-aged, and elderly adults.
  • Performance was assessed on 10 practical, everyday problems.
  • Two instruction conditions were used: standard and explicit (encouraging maximum effort).

Main Results:

Related Experiment Videos

  • Under standard instructions, young adults performed worse than middle-aged and elderly adults.
  • With explicit instructions, young adults matched middle-aged adults' performance and surpassed elderly adults.
  • This suggests young adults' performance is sensitive to motivational cues.

Conclusions:

  • Young adults may not consistently exert optimal effort on practical tasks.
  • Explicit instructions to 'do your best' can significantly enhance young adults' problem-solving performance.
  • Motivational factors play a crucial role in age-related differences in cognitive tasks.