Neuropsychological aspects of internet-based transit navigation skills in older adults

ABSTRACT

Older adults commonly experience difficulties efficiently searching the Internet, which can adversely affect daily functioning. This study specifically examined the neuropsychological aspects of online transit planning in 50 younger (M = 22 years) and 40 older (M = 64 years) community-dwelling adults. All participants completed a neuropsychological battery, questionnaires, and measures of Internet use and skills. Participants used a live transit planning website to complete three inter-related tasks (e.g., map a route from an airport to a specific hotel at a particular time). On a fourth Internet transit task, participants were randomized into either a support condition in which they received brief goal management training or into a control condition. Results showed that older adults were both slower and less accurate than their younger counterparts in completing the first three Internet transit tasks. Within the older adults, Internet transit accuracy showed a medium association with verbal memory, executive functions, and auditory attention, but not visuomotor speed, which was the only domain associated with Internet transit task speed in both groups. The goal management training was beneficial for plan development in younger, but not older adults. The planning supports did not impact actual Internet transit task performance in either group. Findings indicate that older adults experience difficulties quickly and accurately using a transit website to plan transportation routes, which is associated with poorer higher-order neurocognitive functions (e.g., memory). Future work might examine the benefits of established memory strategies (e.g., spaced retrieval practice) for online transit planning.

KEYWORDS:

• Aging
• world-wide web
• neuropsychological assessment
• ecological validity
• declarative memory
• performance-based tests

Acknowledgments

The authors report no conflicts of interest. This study was supported by start-up funds to the corresponding author from the University of Houston and was conducted as part of the Ph.D. requirements for the lead author (SMT). Dr. Kordovski is now with the Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences at Johns Hopkins University.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.