Research article summary (published 27 Feb 2009):

Experience-based mitigation of age-related performance declines: evidence from air traffic control.

Full Abstract

Previous research has found age-related deficits in a variety of cognitive processes. However, some studies have demonstrated age-related sparing on tasks where individuals have substantial experience, often attained over many decades. Here, the authors examined whether decades of experience in a fast-paced demanding profession, air traffic control (ATC), would enable older controllers to perform at high levels of proficiency. The authors also investigated whether older controllers would show diminished age-related decrements on domain-relevant cognitive abilities. Both young and old controllers and non-controllers performed a battery of cognitive and ATC tasks. Results indicate that although high levels of experience can reduce the magnitude of age-related decline on the component processes that underlie complex task performance, this sparing is limited in scope. More important, however, the authors observed experience-based sparing on simulated ATC tasks, with the sparing being most evident on the more complex air traffic control tasks. These results suggest that given substantial experience, older adults may be quite capable of performing at high levels of proficiency on fast-paced demanding real-world tasks. The implications of these findings for global skilled labor shortages are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2009 APA, all rights reserved).

Author information

Author/s: Nunes, Ashley (A); Kramer, Arthur F (AF);

Affiliation: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801, USA.

Grants: R01 AG 25032 (Agency:NIA NIH HHS) ; R01 AG 25667 (Agency:NIA NIH HHS)

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article; Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

Journal: Journal of experimental psychology. Applied (J Exp Psychol Appl), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2009-Mar; vol 15 (issue 1) : pp 12-24

Dates: Created 2009/03/24; Completed 2009/05/28; Revised 2009/07/27;

PMID: 19309213, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 8/20/2009, IMS Date: 20 Aug 2009 00:00:00)

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

Comments and Corrections

ErratumIn: J Exp Psychol Appl. 2009 Jun;15(2):139.

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MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Adult Aging - psychology Aptitude Attention Aviation Computer Simulation Discrimination (Psychology) Female

Humans Judgment Male Middle Aged Practice (Psychology) Problem Solving Space Perception Young Adult

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