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The Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences Advance Access originally published online on June 5, 2009
The Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences 2009 64B(4):470-473; doi:10.1093/geronb/gbp040
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© The Author 2009. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org.

A New Look at Retest Learning in Older Adults: Learning in the Absence of Item-Specific Effects

Lixia Yang, Maureen Reed, Frank A. Russo and Andrea Wilkinson

Department of Psychology, Ryerson University, Toronto, Canada

Address correspondence to Lixia Yang, PhD, Department of Psychology, Ryerson University, 823A-Jorgenson Hall, 350 Victoria Street, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5B 2K3. Email: lixiay{at}ryerson.ca


  Abstract

We investigated retest learning (i.e., performance improvement through retest practice) in the absence of item-specific effects (i.e., learning through memorizing or becoming familiar with specific items) with older adults. Thirty-one older adults (ages 60–82 years, M = 71.10, SD = 6.27) participated in an eight-session self-guided retest program. To eliminate item-specific effects, parallel versions of representative psychometric measures for Inductive Reasoning, Perceptual Speed, and Visual Attention were developed and administered across retest sessions. The results showed substantial non-item-specific retest learning, even controlling for anxiety, suggesting that retest learning in older adults can occur at a more conceptual level.

Key Words: Inductive reasoning • Item-specific effects • Older adults • Perceptual speed • Retest learning • Visual attention

Received August 7, 2008; Accepted March 1, 2009

Decision Editor: Elizabeth Stine-Morrow, PhD


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