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Published on: February 14, 2014
Paper-Based Assessment of the Effects of Aging on Response Time: A Diffusion Model Analysis
Judith Dirk1, Gesa Katharina Kratzsch2, John P Prindle3
1Department of Education and Human Development, German Institute for International Educational Research (DIPF), 60486 Frankfurt am Main, Germany. dirk@dipf.de.
Abstract:
The effects of aging on response time were examined in a paper-based lexical-decision experiment with younger (age 18-36) and older (age 64-75) adults, applying Ratcliff's diffusion model. Using digital pens allowed the paper-based assessment of response times for single items. Age differences previously reported by Ratcliff and colleagues in computer-based experiments were partly replicated: older adults responded more conservatively than younger adults and showed a slowing of their nondecision components of RT by 53 ms. The rates of evidence accumulation (drift rate) showed no age-related differences. Participants with a higher score in a vocabulary test also had higher drift rates. The experiment demonstrates the possibility to use formal processing models with paper-based tests.
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