Using diffusion models for symbolic numeracy tasks to examine aging effects

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Psychology
• Neuroscience of Aging
• Quantitative Psychology

Background:

• Symbolic numeracy is crucial for daily life.
• Aging impacts cognitive functions, including numerical processing.
• Diffusion models offer a framework to analyze decision-making processes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate age-related changes in symbolic numeracy using model-based analysis.
• To examine how aging affects different components of decision-making in number tasks.
• To identify consistent individual differences in cognitive processes across tasks.

Main Methods:

• Utilized three symbolic numeracy tasks: number discrimination, number memory, and number line.
• Applied the standard two-choice diffusion model and the spatially continuous diffusion model.
• Analyzed accuracy and response time distributions across three age groups (young adults, 60-69, 70-90).

Main Results:

• Non-decision time (encoding/response) increased with age across tasks.
• Boundary settings (evidence needed) increased in discrimination and memory tasks, but not on the number line task.
• Drift rates (decision evidence accumulation) decreased in older adults for the number memory task, but not for easier tasks.

Conclusions:

• Model-based analysis successfully resolved age-related discrepancies in performance.
• Aging affects different components of cognitive tasks distinctly.
• Consistent individual differences in decision-making processes were observed across tasks, highlighting the utility of diffusion models.