Aging and Metacognition in Strategic skill Acquisition

描述(由申请人提供)：关于衰老和认知的一个关键问题涉及到作为认知表现年龄差异的原因的策略性行为的影响。能否结合年龄相关变化在基本信息处理机制中的作用--例如联想学习速度减慢或信息处理速度减慢--来确定策略的影响？认知任务中策略行为的年龄差异在多大程度上产生、增强或降低了对标准认知任务中基本认知机制的年龄变化的估计？尽管认知策略的年龄差异显然不能决定(即完全解释)认知任务的年龄差异(Light，1996；Salhouse，1991)，但它们可以在影响几类复杂认知任务的年龄差异方面发挥重要作用(Dunlosky&Hertzog，2001；Lemaire&Arnaud，2002；Kausler，1994；Rogers，Hertzog，&Fisk，2000)。本研究将阐明策略因素对技能习得的年龄差异的影响。我们采用了名词对学习(NP)任务(Ackerman&Woltz，1994)来评估个体从较慢形式的受控处理(视觉搜索或扫描阵列以找到目标单词对)转换到基于记忆提取的更流利的表现(通过重复接触相同的配对成为可能)的速度。对这一任务的初步研究表明，相当大比例的老年人在NP任务中不依赖于从记忆中提取来做出快速判断(Rogers&Gilbert，1997；Rogers等人，2000)，而是选择使用较慢但有效的扫描可能答案阵列的策略。我们以前已经证明，老年人和年轻人都学习新的联想，并利用这种学习来指导NP任务中的熟练表现(Touron&Hertzog，出版社；Touron&Hertzog，2003)。我们方法的一个关键特征是收集逐次试验策略报告以及在线识别记忆探测器，这允许我们跟踪在特定项目水平上的联想学习导致每个人的策略行为变化的方式。使用这种方法，我们已经表明，尽管有足够的名词对学习(项目知识)，老年人不愿依赖记忆提取策略，并且这种不情愿导致技能获得速度的年龄差异。持续的扫描行为不能完全用名词对学习的缺陷来解释--向提取的转变也受到策略选择的年龄差异的影响。关于策略选择的年龄差异，有许多相互矛盾的解释，包括：认知能力、人格特征、元认知信念、表现监控或心理任务模型。这项拟议的研究将考虑老年人提取不情愿的这些替代机制及其影响。我们的具体目标是：(1)进行广泛的个体差异研究，评估策略选择与(A)背景能力(如知觉速度、联想记忆和流动智力)和(B)个人特征的关系，包括保守性、尽职尽责、冲动、记忆自我概念和在线监测项目知识的可及性；(2)评估在线元认知的年龄和个体差异，包括体验或获得快速知觉的差异，以及不同策略之间知识更新的差异；(3)通过实验操作指导集、奖赏偶然性和反应截止时间来测试初始反应标准和策略偏好的灵活性；以及(4)通过扩展到单独的技能获得任务来检验这些影响的一般性。我们的目标是证明老年人的技能获得行为既受年龄相关的信息加工限制，也受意志和策略选择的控制，以评估这种阻碍老年人学习速度的策略行为的作用可以通过干预来克服。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): A critical issue regarding aging and cognition concerns the impact of strategic behavior as a cause of age differences in cognitive performance. Can the influence of strategies be identified in conjunction with the role of age-related changes in basic information processing mechanisms - such as a slowing in rates of associative learning or slowing in information processing speed? To what extent do age differences in strategic behavior in cognitive tasks produce, enhance, or reduce estimates of age changes in basic cognitive mechanisms taken from standard cognitive tasks? Although it is clear that age differences in cognitive strategies do not determine (i.e., completely account for) age differences in cognitive task performance (Light, 1996; Salthouse, 1991 ) they can play an important role in affecting age differences in performance on several classes of complex cognitive tasks (Dunlosky & Hertzog, 2001; Lemaire & Arnaud, 2002; Kausler, 1994; Rogers, Hertzog, & Fisk, 2000). The proposed research will clarify the influence of strategic factors on age differences in skill acquisition. We have adopted the noun-pair learning (NP) task (Ackerman & Woltz, 1994) to assess how quickly individuals switch from a slower form of controlled processing (visual search, or scanning, of an array to find target word pairs) to more fluent performance based on memory-retrieval (made possible by repeated exposure to the same pairings). Initial work with this task demonstrated that a substantial proportion of older adults do not rely on retrieval from memory to make rapid judgments in the NP task (Rogers & Gilbert, 1997; Rogers et al., 2000), opting instead to stay with the slower but effective strategy of scanning the array of possible answers. We have previously shown that both older and younger adults learn new associations and utilize this learning to guide skilled performance in the NP task (Touron & Hertzog, in press; Touron & Hertzog, 2003). A critical feature of our approach is collecting trial by trial strategy reports as well as online recognition memory probes, which allow us to track the way in which associative learning at the level of specific items leads to changes in strategic behavior for each person. Using this approach, we have shown that older adults are reluctant to rely on a memory retrieval strategy despite adequate noun-pair learning (item knowledge), and that this reluctance contributes to age differences in rates of skill acquisition. Persistent scanning behavior cannot be fully explained by deficient noun-pair learning - the shift toward retrieval is also influenced by age differences in strategy choice. A number of competing explanations for age differences in strategy choice are available, including: cognitive abilities, personality characteristics, metacognitive beliefs, performance monitoring, or the mental task model. The proposed research will consider these alternative mechanisms for and influences on older adults' retrieval reluctance. Our specific aims are to: (1) conduct an extensive individual differences study that evaluates the relationship of strategic choice to (a) background abilities, such as perceptual speed, associative memory, and fluid intelligence and (b) personal characteristics, including conservatism, conscientiousness, impulsivity, memory self-concept, and online monitoring of the accessibility of item knowledge; (2) assess age and individual differences in online metacognition, including differences in the experience of or access to a fast feeling-of-knowing as well as differences in updating of knowledge for latency differences across strategies.; (3) test the flexibility of initial response criteria and strategy preferences, by experimentally manipulating instructional sets, reward contingencies, and response deadlines; and (4) check the generality of these effects by extending to a separate skill acquisition task. Our goals are to demonstrate that older adults' skill acquisition behavior is governed both by age-related information processing constraints as well as by volition and strategic choice, to evaluate the role of that strategic behavior which impedes rates of learning in older adults can be overcome through intervention.