OLDER ADULTS' MEMORY FOR WRITTEN MEDICAL INFORMATION

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The major goal of the research is to improve older adults memory for accurate written medical information. The focus of these studies will be on the factors which affect the comprehension and recall of accurate information which contradicts a person's previously held false beliefs. Specifically, we intend to investigate whether recall of accurate information by older osteoarthritic (OA) adults about treatment of their condition is affected by (1) whether the information contradicts previous false beliefs or affirms previous true beliefs about such treatment; (2) features of the text which presents the information; (3) individual difference variables; and (4) interactions among these variables. The goal of the work is to develop texts which will facilitate the learning of accurate information by older adults. The research will test a model for processing and recalling information that contradicts the reader's prior knowledge through a series of four inter-connected studies. The first study will identify important true and false beliefs held by a majority of older adults about the treatment of osteoarthritis. This first study will use questionnaires and survey techniques, while the remaining studies will require participants to read and recall information about osteoarthritis. The second study will use texts in which the presentation of information related to true and false beliefs identified in study I has been systematically varied, and is expected to show that recall of information related to false beliefs is less accurate than is recall of information related to true beliefs. The third and fourth studies will then investigate some possible text manipulations designed to bolster processing at each step in our model, and thus increase the likelihood of accurate recall. These manipulations will include variations in signaling, text structure, rhetorical form, argument strength, and the individual's need for cognition. The third study will focus on cognitive issues, while the fourth study will focus on persuasive issues. This final study will also incorporate the successful manipulations from the previous studies as well to determine which type of text will best facilitate the changing of erroneous beliefs about the treatment of osteoarthritis in older adults.