TY - JOUR
T1 - The information-loss model
T2 - A mathematical theory of age-related cognitive slowing
AU - Myerson, Joel
AU - Hale, Sandra
AU - Wagstaff, David
AU - Poon, Leonard W.
AU - Smith, Glen A.
PY - 1990
Y1 - 1990
N2 - A model of cognitive slowing is proposed with the following assumptions: Information is lost during processing, processing occurs in discrete steps with step duration inversely related to the amount of information currently available, and the effect of aging is to increase the proportion of information lost per step. This model correctly predicts a positively accelerated relation between latencies of older and younger adults and provides a unified account of the effects of task complexity, practice, speed-accuracy tradeoffs, and fluctuations in individual performance. Strong support for the thesis that cognitive slowing is global, and not localized in specific age-sensitive components, is provided by the fact that the model accurately predicts the latencies of older adults on the basis of those of younger adults, without regard to the nature of the task, across a latency range of nearly 2 orders of magnitude.
AB - A model of cognitive slowing is proposed with the following assumptions: Information is lost during processing, processing occurs in discrete steps with step duration inversely related to the amount of information currently available, and the effect of aging is to increase the proportion of information lost per step. This model correctly predicts a positively accelerated relation between latencies of older and younger adults and provides a unified account of the effects of task complexity, practice, speed-accuracy tradeoffs, and fluctuations in individual performance. Strong support for the thesis that cognitive slowing is global, and not localized in specific age-sensitive components, is provided by the fact that the model accurately predicts the latencies of older adults on the basis of those of younger adults, without regard to the nature of the task, across a latency range of nearly 2 orders of magnitude.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0025501969&partnerID=8YFLogxK
M3 - Article
C2 - 2247538
AN - SCOPUS:0025501969
SN - 0033-295X
VL - 97
SP - 475
EP - 487
JO - Psychological Review
JF - Psychological Review
IS - 4
ER -