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Updated: Aug 7, 2026

Assessment of Age-related Changes in Cognitive Functions Using EmoCogMeter, a Novel Tablet-computer Based Approach
Published on: February 14, 2014
Age effects may be global, not local: comment on Fisk and Rogers (1991)
1Veterans Administration Outpatient Clinic, Boston, Massachusetts 02114.
Aging uniformly slows cognitive processing, impacting all information tasks equally. This generalized slowing affects reaction times across various studies, challenging previous notions of age-specific effects.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Human Factors
- Gerontology
Background:
- Previous research suggested age differentially affects various search conditions.
- Fisk and Rogers (1991) rejected a uniform, additive effect of age on target search times.
Discussion:
- This study re-evaluates age effects on search times, proposing a uniform, non-additive model.
- Analysis indicates age exerts a consistent linear or slightly curvilinear influence on processing speed.
Key Insights:
- A single "null hypothesis" model adequately explains age-related slowing across 27 visual search conditions.
- This generalized slowing effect is consistent across 107 visual search and 154 non-search processing-time studies.
- Observed variations in age outcomes are attributable to statistical sampling error.
Outlook:
- Age is characterized by a generalized slowing of the central nervous system.
- This uniform slowing uniformly impacts all information processing, including reaction times.
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