
32 Designing training and instructional programs for older adults
3.2.2 Factors inuencing aging and learning
There are numerous factors inuencing the ability of older adults
to learn new skills and procedures, or acquire new knowledge. As
reviewed in Chapter2, older adults experience changes in many cogni-
tive abilities such as working memory, perceptual speed, and attention
(see also Figures3.1 and 3.2), which are important to learning and cre-
ate challenges for older adults, especially if the task is complex or in an
unfamiliar domain. For example, it may be more difcult for an older
person to learn if the to-be-learned ...