Instruction, induction, generation, and evaluation of strategies for solving search problems

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Psychology
• Human Aging Research
• Experimental Psychology

Background:

• Older adults often exhibit performance declines in cognitive tasks, including search problems.
• Previous research suggests age differences may stem from strategy use, but the exact mechanisms are debated.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate whether older adults can learn and apply efficient search strategies.
• To determine if older adults can spontaneously discover strategies without explicit instruction.
• To examine age-related differences in the generation and evaluation of cognitive strategies.

Main Methods:

• Two experiments involved instructing older adults in efficient search strategies and assessing their use and transfer.
• A third experiment directly compared strategy generation and evaluation between younger and older adults.
• Stimulus features like color were manipulated in some conditions to test for spontaneous strategy discovery.

Main Results:

• Older adults successfully learned, retained, and transferred instructed search strategies.
• Manipulation of stimulus features did not lead to spontaneous discovery of efficient strategies by older adults.
• Older adults were less likely than younger adults to generate, use, or rate optimal strategies as informative.

Conclusions:

• Explicit instruction enables older adults to effectively employ search strategies.
• Age-related deficits in search performance are likely due to impaired strategy production, not just execution.
• Interventions targeting strategy generation and evaluation may benefit older adults' cognitive performance.