The effects of perceived control on the paired-associate learning of elderly persons

Forty-five elderly subjects performed a modified paired-associate learning task under two conditions designed to enhance their perception of control. Subjects in enhanced control conditions chose their own response items ("choice" subjects) or were allowed to manually control response interval duration ("self-paced"). Yoked controls learned the same items selected by choice subjects, or experienced pacing conditions under which they were allowed comparable amounts of response time. The design was an incomplete 2 x 3 x 6 factorial with two types of item selection (choice vs. force), three types of pacing (self-paced, yoked item-by-item, yoke by trial median time), and six trials. There was no "choice" group in the "item yoked" pacing condition. As predicted, subjects experiencing either or both of the control-enhancing conditions performed better than yoked controls. Experiencing both item choice and self-pacing did not result in performance which was significantly better than that of subjects experiencing only one or the other. Results are discussed in light of previous work with young persons, and recommendations are offered to researchers.