Age-related differences in the acquisition and transfer of perceptual decision-making skills

Younger and older participants were trained to perform a computerized football task. Half of the participants received rule-based training and the remainder received color enhancements in alternating blocks. Both younger and older adults improved RT performance, with the younger participants performing about twice as fast as the older participants. The participants transferred to Novel, Cluttered and Time-Stress conditions. The effect of training type (rules better than enhancements) failed to persist during transfer. Age-related impairments of RT and overall accuracy persisted during transfer, although older participants maintained a higher primary accuracy (except for Time-Stress). Their performance plummeted during the Time-Stress, but improved across the blocks. During the subsequent baseline block, primary accuracy returned to the pre-Cluttered level and RT slightly declined. These results suggest that the older participants changed strategies under time stress, and with more practice, their performance on this complex perceptual task may increase dramatically.