ERIC Number: EJ1272015
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2020-Nov
Pages: 25
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0278-7393
EISSN: N/A
Examining Aging and Numerosity Using an Integrated Diffusion Model
Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, v46 n11 p2128-2152 Nov 2020
Two experiments are presented that use tasks common in research in numerical cognition with young adults and older adults as subjects. In these tasks, one or two arrays of dots are displayed, and subjects decide whether there are more or fewer dots of one kind than another. Results show that older adults, relative to young adults, tend to rely more on the perceptual feature, area, in making numerosity judgments when area is correlated with numerosity. Also, convex hull unexpectedly shows different effects depending on the task (being either correlated with numerosity or anticorrelated). Accuracy and response time (RT) data are interpreted with the integration of the diffusion decision model with models for the representation of numerosity. One model assumes that the representation of the difference depends on the difference between the numerosities and that standard deviations ("SD"s) increase linearly with numerosity, and the other model assumes a log representation with constant "SD"s. The representational models have coefficients that are applied to differences between two numerosities to produce drift rates and "SD"s in drift rates in the decision process. The two tasks produce qualitatively different patterns of RTs: One model fits results from one task, but the results are mixed for the other task. The effects of age on model parameters show a modest decrease in evidence driving the decision process, an increase in the duration of processes outside the decision process (nondecision time), and an increase in the amount of evidence needed to make a decision (boundary separation).
Descriptors: Aging (Individuals), Older Adults, Numeracy, Accuracy, Reaction Time, Task Analysis, Perception, Decision Making, Cognitive Processes, Intelligence Tests
American Psychological Association. Journals Department, 750 First Street NE, Washington, DC 20002. Tel: 800-374-2721; Tel: 202-336-5510; Fax: 202-336-5502; e-mail: order@apa.org; Web site: http://www.apa.org
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: National Institute on Aging (DHHS/NIH)
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Ohio (Columbus)
Identifiers - Assessments and Surveys: Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale
Grant or Contract Numbers: R01AG041176; R01AG057841