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战略行为作为认知表现年龄差异的原因的影响。策略的影响能否与基本信息处理机制中与年龄相关的变化（如联想学习速度减慢或信息处理速度减慢）的作用结合起来加以确定？认知任务中策略行为的年龄差异在多大程度上产生、增强或减少了从标准认知任务中获得的基本认知机制的年龄变化估计？虽然很明显，认知策略的年龄差异并不能决定（即完全解释）认知任务表现的年龄差异（Light, 1996; Salthouse, 1991），但它们可以在影响几类复杂认知任务表现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）。本研究旨在阐明策略因素对技能习得年龄差异的影响。我们采用了名词对学习（NP）任务（Ackerman & Woltz, 1994）来评估个体从较慢的控制处理形式（视觉搜索，或扫描数组以找到目标单词对）到基于记忆检索的更流畅的表现（通过反复接触相同的成对而实现）的转换速度。这项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检索来做出快速判断（Rogers & Gilbert, 1997; Rogers et al., 2000），而是选择使用扫描一系列可能答案这一较慢但有效的策略。我们之前的研究表明，老年人和年轻人都会学习新的联想，并利用这种学习来指导NP任务中的熟练表现（Touron & Hertzog, in press; Touron & Hertzog, 2003）。我们方法的一个关键特征是收集一个接一个的试验策略报告以及在线识别记忆探针，这使我们能够跟踪特定项目层面的联想学习如何导致每个人的策略行为变化。使用这种方法，我们已经表明，尽管有足够的非配对学习（项目知识），老年人仍不愿意依赖记忆检索策略，并且这种不情愿导致了技能习得率的年龄差异。持续的扫描行为不能完全用名词对学习的缺陷来解释——向检索的转变也受到策略选择的年龄差异的影响。对于策略选择的年龄差异，有许多相互竞争的解释，包括：认知能力、人格特征、元认知信念、绩效监控或心理任务模型。本研究将考虑这些可能的机制及其对老年人检索不情愿的影响。我们的具体目标是：(1)开展一项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、联想记忆和流体智力）和(b)个人特征（包括保守性、严谨性、冲动性、记忆自我概念和项目知识可及性在线监测）之间的关系；(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认知感的差异以及跨策略延迟差异的知识更新差异；(3)通过实验操纵教学设置、奖励随变和反应期限，检验初始反应标准和策略偏好的灵活性；(4)通过扩展到一个单独的技能习得任务来检验这些效应的普遍性。我们的目标是证明老年人的技能习得行为既受与年龄相关的信息处理约束，也受意志和策略选择的制约，并评估阻碍老年人学习速度的策略行为的作用，这种策略行为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.