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Updated: May 22, 2025

Assessment of Age-related Changes in Cognitive Functions Using EmoCogMeter, a Novel Tablet-computer Based Approach
Published on: February 14, 2014
Cognitive differences of younger and older adults in skeuomorphic or flat icons
Zhengxin Wu1, Yixi Bao1, Tao Jin2
1School of Design, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, China.
Abstract:
This research utilised an icon-matching task and an oddball task to investigate the cognitive differences between skeuomorphic and flat icon styles in visual search among younger and older adults. The results of the icon-matching task revealed a significant main effect of age, with younger participants having shorter response times than older participants, and an interaction effect between icon style and age was observed. Moreover, correlation analysis indicated that icon-matching performance strongly correlated with participants' cognitive preferences. To further explore the impact of icon styles on age-related cognitive mechanisms, the oddball task results indicated that younger participants evoked larger P200 and P300 amplitudes for flat icons, while older participants for skeuomorphic icons. A stronger correlation between icon-matching performance and users' cognitive preferences corresponds to a more significant difference in the P200 and P300 amplitudes evoked by flat and skeuomorphic icons. This finding helps designers improve user experience across different age groups.
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