Aging and strategy switch costs: A study in arithmetic problem solving

authors

• Ardiale Eléonore
• Hodzik Suzane
• Lemaire Patrick

document type

abstract

The present experiment investigated age-related differences in strategy switch costs when participants have to switch (or repeat) between two versus three strategies across consecutive problems. Young and older adults had to solve two-digit addition problems (e.g., 47 + 84). On each problem, the strategy to be used was cued. Participants were cued to switch or repeat strategy from one trial to the next on half the trials. The data showed strategy switch costs (i.e., participants’ performance was poorer when they switched between strategies relative to when they repeated a strategy). Furthermore, there were no age differences in magnitudes of strategy-switch costs when switching between two strategies, in contrast to increased switch costs with age when participants switched between three strategies. Increased strategy switch costs with age and number of strategies may result from variations in executive control during strategy execution and may be crucial in a number of strategic variations during cognitive aging.

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