Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-8ctnn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-21T18:44:36.865Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

16 - Co-Constructing Human Engineering Technologies in Old Age: Lifespan Psychology as a Conceptual Foundation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 July 2009

By
Ulman Lindenberger  and
Martin Lövdén
Edited by
Paul B. Baltes ,
Patricia A. Reuter-Lorenz  and
Frank Rösler
Ulman Lindenberger
Affiliation:
Director, Center for Lifespan Psychology Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin
Martin Lövdén
Affiliation:
International Research Fellow, Center for Lifespan Psychology Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin, Germany
Paul B. Baltes
Affiliation:
Max-Planck-Institut für Bildungsforschung, Berlin
Patricia A. Reuter-Lorenz
Affiliation:
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
Frank Rösler
Affiliation:
Philipps-Universität Marburg, Germany
Get access

Summary

ABSTRACT

Human engineering technologies highlight the bioculturally co-constructed nature of human ontogeny. Based on concepts from lifespan psychology, we propose three criteria for evaluating human engineering technologies in old age: marginal gain for the individual, person specificity and adaptability, and conjoint consideration of distal and proximal frames of evaluation. Informed by research on expert memory performance and negative adult age differences in sensory, motor, and cognitive functioning, we propose strategies for incorporating these criteria into the design of human engineering technologies. We expect that intelligent human engineering technologies will alter the aging of future generations by reducing cognitive resource demands through personalized external cuing structures.

INTRODUCTION

Recent years have witnessed increasing efforts at improving and expanding human engineering technologies for diverse segments of the adult and elderly population (Charness & Schaie, 2003; Kautz, Etzioni, Fox, & Weld, 2004; LoPresti, Mihailidis, & Kirsch, 2004). In this chapter, we discuss the potential of human engineering technologies to counteract negative adult age changes in sensory/sensorimotor and cognitive domains. We devote special attention to intelligent human engineering technology (IHET), that is, to assistive devices and environments apt to learn from, control, supervise, and regulate behavior (Kautz et al., 2004; Patterson, Liao, Fox, & Kautz, 2003).

Human behavior enmeshed in assistive technology is not fundamentally different from any other form of human behavior. At the same time, the unprecedented capacity of IHET to adapt to, predict, supervise, assist, and eventually control human behavior sets it apart from less adaptive assistive devices such as canes or reading glasses.

Type
Chapter
Information
Lifespan Development and the Brain
The Perspective of Biocultural Co-Constructivism
 , pp. 350 - 376
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2006

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bäckman, L., & Mäntylä, T. (1988). Effectiveness of self-generated cues in younger and older adults: The role of retention interval. International Journal of Aging and Human Development, 26, 241–248CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Baltes, P. B., & Baltes, M. M. (1990). Psychological perspectives on successful aging: The model of selective optimization with compensation. In P. B. Baltes & M. M. Baltes (Eds.), Succcessful aging: Perspectives from the behavioral sciences (pp. 1–34). New York:Cambridge University PressCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baltes, P. B., & Lindenberger, U. (1997). Emergence of a powerful connection between sensory and cognitive functions across the adult life span: A new window to the study of cognitive aging?Psychology and Aging, 12, 12–21CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baltes, P. B., Lindenberger, U., & Staudinger, U. M. (2006). Lifespan theory in developmental psychology. In R. M. Lerner (Ed.), Theoretical models of human development: Vol. 1. Handbook of child psychology (6th ed., pp. 569–664). New York:Wiley
Baltes, P. B., & Mayer, K. U. (Eds.). (1999). The Berlin Aging Study: Aging from 70 to 100.New York:Cambridge University PressGoogle Scholar
Bower, G. H. (1970). Analysis of a mnemonic device. American Scientist, 58, 496–510Google Scholar
Brown, L. A., Shumway-Cook, A., & Woollacott, M. H. (1999). Attentional demands and postural recovery: The effects of aging. Journal of Gerontology: Medical Sciences, 54, 165–171Google ScholarPubMed
Brown, L. A., & Woollacott, M. H. (1998). The effects of aging on the control of posture and locomotion in healthy older adults: An emphasis on cognition. Psychologische Beiträge, 40, 27–43Google Scholar
Chalfonte, B. L., & Johnson, M. K. (1996). Feature memory and binding in young and old adults. Memory and Cognition, 24, 403–416CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Charness, N. (1979). Components of skill in bridge. Canadian Journal of Psychology, 33, 1–16CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Charness, N., & Schaie, K. W. (Eds.). (2003). Impact of technology on successful aging.New York: SpringerGoogle Scholar
Chen, H-C., Schultz, A. B., Ashton-Miller, J. A., Giordani, B., Alexander, N. B., & Guire, K. E. (1996). Stepping over obstacles: Dividing attention impairs performance of old more than young adults. Journals of Gerontology: Medical Sciences, 51, M116–M122CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Craik, F. I. M. (1983). On the transfer of information from temporary to permanent memory. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, B302, 341–359CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Craik, F. I. M. (in press). Remembering items and their contexts: Effects of aging and divided attention. In H. D. Zimmer, A. Mecklinger, & U. Lindenberger (Eds.), Binding in human memory: A neurocognitive perspective.Oxford, UK:Oxford University Press
Dixon, R. A., & Bäckman, L. (Eds.). (1995). Compensating for psychological deficits and declines: Managing losses and promoting gains.Mahwah, NJ:ErlbaumGoogle Scholar
Ericsson, K. A. (1985). Memory skill. Canadian Journal of Psychology, 39, 188–231CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Feldman, R. M., & Reger, S. N. (1967). Relations among hearing, reaction time, and age. Journal of Speech and Hearing Research, 10, 479–495CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Freund, A. M., & Baltes, P. B. (2000). The orchestration of selection, optimization, and compensation: An action-theoretical conceptualization of a theory of developmental regulation. In W. J. Perrig & A. Grob (Eds.), Control of human behavior, mental processes, and consciousness (pp. 35–58). Mahwah, NJ:ErlbaumGoogle Scholar
Ghisletta, P., & Lindenberger, U. (2005). Exploring structural dynamics within and between sensory and intellectual functioning in old and very old age: Longitudinal evidence from the Berlin Aging Study.Intelligence, 33, 555–587Google Scholar
Hawthorn, D. (2000). Possible implications of aging for interface designers. Interacting with Computers, 12, 507–528CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hunt, R. R., & Einstein, G. O. (1981). Relational and item-specific information in memory. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 20, 497–514CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Just, M. A., Carpenter, P. A., & Keller, T. A. (1996). The capacity theory of comprehension: New frontiers of evidence and arguments. Psychological Review, 103, 773–780CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kautz, H., Etzioni, O., Fox, D., & Weld, D. (2004). Foundations of assisted cognition systems (Technical Report CSE-02-AC-01). Seattle: Department of Computer Science and Engineering, University of WashingtonGoogle Scholar
Kemper, S., Herman, R. E., & Lian, C. H. T. (2003). The costs of doing two things at once for young and older adults: Talking while walking, finger tapping, and ignoring noise or speech. Psychology and Aging, 18, 181–192CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kliegl, R., & Lindenberger, U. (1993). Modeling intrusions and correct recall in episodic memory: Adult age differences in encoding of list context. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 19, 617–637Google ScholarPubMed
Krampe, R. T., & Baltes, P. B. (2003). Intelligence as adaptive resource development and resource allocation: A new look through the lenses of SOC and expertise. In R. J. Sternberg & E. L. Grigorenko (Eds.), Perspectives on the psychology of abilities, competencies, and expertise (pp. 31–69). New York:Cambridge University PressGoogle Scholar
Kray, J., & Lindenberger, U. (2000). Adult age differences in task switching. Psychology and Aging, 15, 126–147CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Krüger, A., Butz, A., Müller, C., Stahl, C., Wasinger, R., Steinberg, K.-E., & Dirschl, A. (2004). The connected user interface: Realizing a personal situated navigation service. In N. Jardim Nunes & C. Rich (Eds.), Proceedings of the International Conference on Intelligent User Interfaces (IUI 2004) (pp.161–168). New York:ACM PressGoogle Scholar
Li, K. Z. H., & Lindenberger, U. (2002). Relations between aging sensory/sensorimotor and cognitive functions. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, 26, 777–783CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Li, K. Z. H., Lindenberger, U., Freund, A. M., & Baltes, P. B. (2001). Walking while memorizing: Age-related differences in compensatory behavior. Psychological Science, 12, 230–237CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Li, S.-C. (2003). Biocultural orchestration of developmental plasticity across levels: The interplay of biology and culture in shaping the mind and behavior across the life span. Psychological Bulletin, 129, 171–194CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Li, S.-C., Aggen, S., Nesselroade, J. R., & Baltes, P. B. (2001). Short-term fluctuations in elderly people's sensorimotor functioning predict text and spatial memory performance. Gerontology, 47, 100–116CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Li, S.-C., & Lindenberger, U. (1999). Cross-level unification: A computational exploration of the link between deterioration of neurotransmitter systems and dedifferentiation of cognitive abilities in old age. In L.-G. Nilsson & H. J. Markowitsch (Eds.), Cognitive neuroscience of memory (pp. 103–146). Seattle:Hogrefe & HuberGoogle Scholar
Li, S.-C., Naveh-Benjamin, M., & Lindenberger, U. (2005). Aging neuromodulation impairs associative binding: A neurocomputational account. Psychological Science, 16, 445–450Google ScholarPubMed
Lindenberger, U., & Baltes, P. B. (1994). Sensory functioning and intelligence in old age: A strong connection. Psychology and Aging, 9, 339–355CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lindenberger, U., & Baltes, P. B. (1997). Intellectual functioning in old and very old age: Cross-sectional results from the Berlin Aging Study. Psychology and Aging, 12, 410–432CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lindenberger, U., Marsiske, M., & Baltes, P. B. (2000). Memorizing while walking: Increase in dual-task costs from young adulthood to old age. Psychology and Aging, 15, 417–436CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
LoPresti, E. F., Mihailidis, A., & Kirsch, N. (2004). Assistive technology for cognitive rehabilitation: State of the art. Neuropsychological Rehabilitation, 14, 5–39CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lövdén, M., & Lindenberger, U. (2005). Development of intellectual abilities in old age: From age gradients to individuals. In O. Wilhelm & R. W. Engle (Eds.), Handbook of Understanding (pp. 203–221). Thousand Oaks, CA:Sage
Lövdén, M., Schellenbach, M., Grossman-Hutter, B., Krüger, A., & Lindenberger, U. (2005). Environmental topography and postural control demands shape aging-associated decrements in spatial navigation performance. Psychology and Aging, 20(4), 683–694CrossRef
Maguire, E. A., Gadian, D. G., Johnsrude, I. S., Good, C. D., Ashburner, J., Frackowiak, R. S. J., & Frith, C. D. (2000). Navigation-related structural change in the hippocampi of taxi drivers. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (USA), 97, 4398–4403CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mäntylä, T. (1986). Optimizing cue effectiveness: Recall of 500 and 600 incidentally learned words. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 12, 66–71Google Scholar
Marsiske, M., Delius, J., Maas, I., Lindenberger, U., Scherer, H., & Tesch-Römer, C. (1999). Sensory systems in old age. In P. B. Baltes & K. U. Mayer (Eds.), The Berlin Aging Study: Aging from 70 to 100 (pp. 360–383). New York:Cambridge University PressGoogle Scholar
Mayr, U., Kliegl, R., & Krampe, R. T. (1996). Sequential and coordinative processing dynamics in figural transformations across the life span. Cognition, 59, 61–90CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Miller, E. K., & Cohen, J. D. (2001). An integrative theory of prefontal cortex function. Annual Review of Neuroscience, 24, 167–202CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Murre, J. M. J., Wolters, G., & Raffone, A. (in press). Binding in working memory and long-term memory: Towards an integrated model. In H. D. Zimmer, A. Mecklinger, & U. Lindenberger (Eds.), Binding in human memory: A neurocognitive perspective.Oxford, UK:Oxford University Press
Naveh-Benjamin, M. (2000). Adult age differences in memory performance: Tests of an associative deficit hypothesis. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 26, 1170–1187Google ScholarPubMed
Patterson, P., Liao, L., Fox, D., & Kautz, H. (2003). Inferring high level behavior from low level sensors. In A. K. Dey, A. Schmidt, & J. F. McCarthy (Eds.), Proceedings of the Fifth Annual Conference on Ubiquitous Computing (UbiComp 2003) (pp. 73–89). Berlin: Springer-VerlagGoogle Scholar
Prinz, W. (2004). Kritik des freien Willens: Bemerkungen über eine soziale Institution [Critique of free will: Some remarks on a social institution]. Psychologische Rundschau, 55, 198–206CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Raz, N. (2000). Aging of the brain and its impact on cognitive performance: Integration of structural and functional findings. In F. I. M. Craik & T. A. Salthouse (Eds.), The handbook of aging and cognition (2nd ed., pp. 1–90). Mahwah, NJ:ErlbaumGoogle Scholar
Raz, N., Lindenberger, U., Rodrigue, K. M., Kennedy, K. M., Head, D., Williamson, A., et al. (2005). Regional brain changes in aging healthy adults: General trends, individual differences, and modifiers. Cerebral CortexCrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Salthouse, T. A., & Meinz, E. J. (1995). Aging, inhibition, working memory, and speed. Journals of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences, 50B, P297–P306CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Salthouse, T. A., & Prill, K. A. (1988). Effects of aging on perceptual closure. American Journal of Psychology, 101, 217–238CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sekuler, A. B., Bennett, P. J., & Mamelak, M. (2000). Effects of aging on the useful field of view. Experimental Aging Research, 26, 103–120Google ScholarPubMed
Teasdale, N., Bard, C., Dadouchi, F., Fleury, M., Larue, J., & Stelmach, G. E. (1992). Posture and elderly persons: Evidence for deficits in the central integrative mechanisms. In G. E. Stelmach & J. Requin (Eds.), Tutorials in motor behavior II (pp. 917–931). Amsterdam:North-HollandGoogle Scholar
Tulving, E., & Thompson, D. M. (1973). Encoding specificity and retrieval processes in episodic memory. Psychological Review, 80, 352–373CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Woollacott, M. H., & Jensen, J. L. (1996). Posture and locomotion. In H. Heuer & S. W. Keele (Eds.), Handbook of perception and action: Vol. 2. Motor skills (pp. 333–403). London:Academic PressGoogle Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure no-reply@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×