• user diaries - participants rarely had attention free to complete worksheets in any great detail, unlikely to recall precise sequence of events; journaling tends to add to the interruption of the flow of daily events
  • there may also be difficulty w/ physical process of writing due to problems w/ motor control; people who have difficulty learning also least likely to provide useful information via worksheets;
• talking one-on-one to participants was most effective way of eliciting information, but this process tended to interferer w/ procedure itself; unlikely to find a complete solution;
• timing: reconsider timing, be flexible, difficult in formally designed experiment;
  • difficult to time tasks accurately
  • older adults find learning about computers more difficult, likely to forget readily, take longer to attain competence then it will for younger people;
• experimentation to be extended to allow participants to attain confidence and autonomy; learning does not follow smooth upward curve; there may be considerable frustration before a "breakthrough week" when everything falls into place; most commonly occurred between weeks 3 and 6;
• diversity - older people are more diverse due to likelihood of illness or impairment; desirable to use a between-subjects experimental design. older participant diversity makes it important to carefully control the experimental conditions and measures; ensure ongoing access to a representative and useful sample of older people; recruitment and maintenance of varied and representative sample can only take place through making appropriate organisational decisions;
  • recruitment: bi-weekly computer classes, adverts on class website, local charities (inefficient), local media, allow direct contact with participant to allow screening - expect problems attending the university, provide support for reaching / finding the study; additional problems arise when studies are longitudinal and demand more than one visit to the university - family responsibilities, illness, operations - allow considerable flexibility in terms of scheduling sessions, allow for withdrawals, such delays are part of life experience, added ecological veracity;
• conclusion: avoid defining older adults in terms of impairments, limitations, illnesses - superficial, stereotypical - negative impact on research;
  • small adjustments to research techniques, careful ongoing monitoring of information received, flexibility w. time and approaches;

• see Table 1: some considerations for planning research studies involving older participants;

On cognitive training (FuturePlay ref's)

• K. Ball, D.B. Bersch, K.F. Helmers, J.B. Jobe, M.D. Leveck, M. Marsiske, J.N. Morris, G.W. Rebok, D.M. Smith, S.L. Tennstedt, F.W. Unverzagt, and S.L. Willis, "Effect of cognitive training interventions with older adults," Journal of the American Medical Association, vol. 288, 2002, pp. 2271-2281.

• A.M. Owen, A. Hampshire, J.A. Grahn, R. Stenton, S. Dajani, A.S. Burns, R.J. Howard, and C.G. Ballard, "Putting brain training to the test," Nature, 2010, pp. 1-5.

Additional References (not presented)

[Davis 08]

[Ellis 00]

[Goodman 04]

[Kurniawan 05]

[Rosson 02]

Utopia Conference [Brewster 02]