Centre for Policy on Ageing



Word-processing training and retraining — effects of adult age, experience and interface
Author(s)	Neil Charness, Catherine L Kelley, Elizabeth A Bosman
Journal title	Psychology and Aging, vol 16, no 1, March 2001
Pages	pp 110-127
Keywords	Information technology ; Computers ; Training [elderly workers] ; Learning capacity ; Mental ageing.
Annotation	Novice (Experiment 1) and experienced (Experiment 2) young, middle-aged and older adults learned a new word-processing application in keystrokes, menus, or menus-plus-icons interface conditions. Novices showed strong age differences in the time to complete the 3-day tutorial, and in declarative and procedural tests of word-processing knowledge. Menus and menus-plus-icons were superior to keystrokes conditions, though interface did not interact with age. Experienced users showed age-related slowing in learning rate, but minimal age differences in test performance when retrained on a new word-processing package. Age and computer experience accounted for much of the variance in both learning time and word-processing performance. Interface type, speed of processing, and spatial generation ability made additional contributions. Experience interacted with age to predict performance. Implications for training and retraining older workers are discussed. (RH).
Accession Number	CPA-020111209 A
Classmark	UVB: 3O: GF: DE: D6
Data © Centre for Policy on Ageing

...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing.