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Elders think slowly but more accurately

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Both children and the elderly often have delayed responses to situations and questions. The slower response may not be age-related, but instead related to a desire for accuracy.

According to a new study, healthy older people can be trained to respond faster without hurting accuracy. They can be taught not to second guess themselves, and when that happens they answer just as fast as younger adults.

“Many people think that it is just natural for older people’s brains to slow down as they age, but we’re finding that isn’t always true,” said Roger Ratcliff, professor of psychology at Ohio State University and co-author of the study. “At least in some situations, 70-year-olds may have response times similar to 25-year-olds.”

Ratcliff and his team have been studying cognitive processes in the elderly for over ten years. For this latest study, they extended their data collection to children. When they studied the kids, there were no surprises. Children are slow and less accurate, getting better and faster as they age.

While older adults are also slower than their younger counterparts, they are not less accurate.

“Older people don’t want to make any errors at all, and that causes them to slow down. We found that it is difficult to get them out of the habit, but they can with practice,” said Gail McKoon, co-author of the study.

“If you look at aging research, you find some studies that show older people are not impaired in accuracy, but other studies that show that older people do suffer when it comes to speed. What this model does is look at both together to reconcile the results,” Ratcliff concluded.

Source: ScienceDaily, Child Development

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