Age-Related Effects of Spatial Contiguity and Interference on Coding Performance

Abstract

This study investigated the effects of spatial contiguity of coding key and coding row and interference from irrelevant stimuli on the coding performance of young and older adults. The young coded faster than older adults, and they were unaffected by the presence of irrelevant stimuli. The old group was significantly slower when irrelevant rows of coding material were present, regardless of the spatial placement of such stimuli. Interference may partially explain the difficulty older adults experience on coding tasks, but it has a similar effect on sequential psychomotor task performance other than coding. Spatial contiguity of coding key and coding row did not influence the performance of either age group. Both groups improved with practice over trials, but the old group improved to a greater degree, particularly on the initial trials.