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V Leirer

Publications and source records attributed to V Leirer.

9 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1994

When expertise reduces age differences in performance.

The authors examined whether aviation expertise reduces age differences in a laboratory task that was similar to routine air traffic control (ATC) communication. In Experiment 1, older and younger pilots and nonpilots read typical ATC messages (e.g., commands to change aircraft heading). After each message, they read back (repeated) the commands, which is a routine ATC procedure requiring short-term memory. Ss also performed less domain-relevant tasks. Expertise eliminated age differences in repeating heading commands, but did not reduce age differences for the less relevant tasks. In Experiment 2, expertise reduced but did not eliminate age differences in repeating heading commands from spoken messages. The results suggest that expertise compensates age declines in resources when the task is highly domain relevant.

Adult↗
PubMed1993

The time-course of alcohol impairment of general aviation pilot performance in a Frasca 141 simulator.

This study examined the time-course of alcohol impairment of general aviation pilot simulator performance. We tested 14 young (mean age 25.8 years) and 14 older (mean age 37.9 years) pilots in a Frasca 141 simulator during alcohol and placebo conditions. In the alcohol condition, pilots drank alcohol and were tested after reaching 0.10% BAL, and then 2, 4, 8, 24, and 48 h after they had stopped drinking. They were tested at the same times in the placebo condition. Alcohol impaired overall performance. Alcohol impairment also depended on the order in which subjects participated in the alcohol and placebo sessions, with larger decrements for the alcohol-placebo order than for the opposite order. To examine the influence of alcohol independent of session order effects, we compared performance in the first alcohol session with performance in the first placebo session. This analysis showed that alcohol significantly reduced mean performance in the alcohol condition at 0.10% BAL and at 2 h. In addition, alcohol increased variability in performance in the alcohol session from 0.10% BAL to 8 h, suggesting that some subjects were more susceptible to alcohol than others. Older pilots tended to perform some radio communication tasks less accurately than younger pilots.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

Elders' schema for taking medication: implications for instruction design.

We examined whether elders share a schema for taking medication and if instructions are better understood and recalled when organized to match this pre-existing schema. Experiment 1 investigated if elders agree on how to group medication information into categories, and if they agree on an order for arranging this information. Elders tended to organize information into three categories, arranged in the following order: General information about the medication (purpose), How to take (dose and schedule), and Outcomes (emergency information). In Experiment 2, we compared instructions that were: (a) compatible with this schema in terms of grouping and order, (b) compatible only in terms of grouping (category order was changed), and (c) incompatible, not matching the model in terms of either grouping or order. Memory for medication information increased with the compatibility of the instructions to the model. Elders also preferred the more compatible instructions. The findings suggest that elders possess a schema for taking medication, which they use to understand and recall medication instructions.

Aged↗
PubMed1991

Alcohol, age, and piloting: judgement, mood, and actual performance.

We have previously described acute and carry-over effects of alcohol on young and older pilots' performance. In the present paper we report the effects of alcohol and age on self-assessment of performance and mood in the same study. Young and older pilots flew in a simulator during an alcohol and placebo condition. In the alcohol condition, they flew after reaching .04 g/dL (.04%) BAL, after .10% BAL, and then 2, 4, 8, 24, and 48 h after .10% BAL (they flew at the same times in the placebo condition). They rated confidence in ability to fly, mood, alertness, and intoxication before each flight, and perceived workload and performance after each flight. As reported in Morrow et al., alcohol had both acute and carry-over effects for 8 h on actual flight performance, with greater acute impairment for older pilots. The present study reports that these older pilots tended to be more aware than the young pilots of acute and carry-over alcohol impairment out to 4 h. By 8 h, however, all pilots were unaware of impairment. Alcohol also had a biphasic effect on mood, which increased on the ascending limb and decreased on the descending limb of the BAL curve.

Adult↗
PubMed1990

The influence of alcohol and aging on radio communication during flight.

This study finds that alcohol and pilot age impair radio communication during simulated flight. Young (mean age 25 years) and older (mean age 42 years) pilots flew in a light aircraft simulator during alcohol and placebo conditions. In the alcohol condition, pilots drank alcohol and flew after reaching 0.04% BAC, after reaching 0.10% BAC, and then 2, 4, 8, 24, and 48 h after they stopped drinking at 0.10% BAC. They flew at the same times in the placebo condition. Alcohol and age impaired communication-based and overall flying performance during and immediately after drinking. Most important, alcohol and age cumulatively impaired performance, since older pilots were more impaired by alcohol. Notably, performance was as impaired 2 h after reaching 0.10% BAC as it was at 0.10% BAC. Moreover, overall performance was impaired for 8 h after reaching 0.10% BAC.

Aging↗
PubMed1988

Adherence and medication instructions. Review and recommendations.

Prescription medication nonadherence among the elderly is a serious medical problem. Nonadherence is primarily caused by poor communication between health professionals and elderly patients. More specifically, nonadherence often reflects the inability of patients to understand and remember their medication instructions. Therefore, adherence can be increased by designing instructions that enable elders to easily construct a clear and simple mental model of how to take their medication. Inexpensive microcomputer-based hardware and software makes it possible for pharmacists to provide elderly patients with effective instructions.

Aged↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Aging, narrative organization, presentation mode, and referent choice strategies.

We examined age differences in referent choice strategies when narrative organization and presentation mode taxed working memory. Readers could use the following cues to choose referents for an ambiguous pronoun: (a) thematic cue (main/minor character), (b) foreground cue (character in main/subordinate clause), and (c) recency of mention of character. Subjects read short narratives with a critical sentence that mentioned the main character in the main clause of the critical sentence (congruent condition) or in the subordinate clause of this sentence (incongruent condition). They chose the main or minor character as referent for a pronoun in the next (target) sentence. Experiment 1 examined how older and young readers use these cues with the Memory narrative presentation (target sentence presented on a separate page from the rest of the narrative). Young readers used similar strategies as those in Morrow (1985), where narrative presentation did not tax memory. Thus, the Memory presentation had little influence on their strategies. However, older readers were less consistent and tended to split in choosing the two characters. In Experiment 2, where narrative presentation did not tax working memory, older readers used similar strategies to the young readers in Experiment 1. Experiment 3 found that elders reading narratives with the Memory presentation recalled the nonpreferred character name after the narrative, suggesting that both characters were accessible from working memory. The study suggests that the Memory presentation mode in Experiment 1 interfered with elders' consistent use of narrative cues in choosing referents, especially when these cues conflict.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Influence of aging and practice on piloting tasks.

We examined how pilot age influences radio communication and routine flying tasks during simulated flight, and if practice reduces age differences in these tasks. The communication task involved reading back and executing messages with four commands (heading, altitude, communication frequency, transponder code). Routine flying tasks included takeoff, visual approach, and landing. Fifteen older (X = 38.4 years) and 16 younger (X = 26.1 years) private-license pilots flew 12 flights involving these tasks. Age differences were found in the communication task; older pilots read back and executed controller messages less accurately. However, age differences were not significant for any of the routine flying tasks except the approach. Age differences in communication performance were not reduced by practice, with older and young pilots improving at roughly the same rate across flights. These results are consistent with previous research showing age-related declines in working memory capacity. Capacity declines would produce greater age differences on communication than on routine flying tasks because the communication tasks imposed a greater load on working memory.

Adult↗