Biomedical subjects

David W Steitz

Publications and source records attributed to David W Steitz.

2 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2003

Aging and dual-task performance: a meta-analysis.

The relations between dual-task effects and aging were examined through a meta-analysis of 33 studies (with 48 independent participant groups) using latency as the dependent measure and 30 studies (with 40 independent participant groups) focusing on accuracy. Brinley plots and state traces were derived, and a model to explicate different types of complexity (additive and multiplicative) was developed. The effects of dual-task processing on latency were additive, and this additive cost was larger in older adults than in younger adults and larger than predicted from general slowing. This cost was small and independent of task complexity. The effects of dual-task processing on logit-transformed accuracy were likewise additive, but no specific age deficit was associated with this dual-task cost.

Adult↗

PubMed2002

Cognitive efficiency modes in old age: performance on sequential and coordinative verbal and visuospatial tasks.

In an experiment using a large set of verbal and spatial tasks requiring low or high degrees of executive control, 3 distinct age-related effects were found. The smallest effect (no slowing) was tied to lexical tasks with low executive involvement, the largest deficit (age-related slowing factor of 2.2) was tied to visuospatial tasks with high executive involvement, an intermediate level of deficit (slowing factor of 1.7) was found for visuospatial tasks with low executive load and verbal tasks with high executive load. These age-related dissociations were incompatible with any "common cause" formulation. The mechanism responsible for the dissociation between verbal and visual tasks, and between low and high executive load remains to be determined. The latter may reflect capacity limits.

Adult↗