How Mobile Touch Devices Foster Cognitive Offloading in the Elderly: The Effects of Input and Feedback

When the elderly have a working memory burden, the cognitive burden can be transferred to mobile touch devices. However, the decline of physical function and cognitive ability affects the ability of the elderly to interact with mobile devices. Optimizing the interaction of mobile touch devices is one of the effective ways to reduce the cognitive burden of the elderly. This study intended to investigate the effects of the input and feedback methods on mobile touch devices on cognitive offloading behaviors in older adults. The experiment adopts a 3 × 3 within-subject design, and the independent variables include 3 input methods (mouse, direct touch, and stylus) and 3 feedback methods (visual feedback, auditory feedback, and combined audiovisual feedback). Thirty elderly participants were invited to complete a visual working memory test and subjective preference questionnaires. The results of the study show that (i) the input methods have a significant effect on the cognitive offloading of the elderly, who, under the stylus condition, have the most offloaded working memory and lower cognitive load; (ii) the feedback methods have a significant effect on the cognitive offloading of the elderly, among which they, under the combined visual and auditory feedback, offload working memory more frequently and have lower cognitive load; and (iii) in terms of subjective evaluation, both the input and feedback methods affect the satisfaction of the elderly: among the 3 input methods, the elderly displayed the highest satisfaction with the stylus, and among the 3 feedback methods, the elderly have the highest satisfaction with the combined audio-visual feedback. Studies have shown that the input and feedback methods of mobile touch devices are important factors affecting the cognitive offloading behavior and subjective evaluation of the elderly. The conclusions of this research provide an important reference for designing interactive methods suitable for the elderly.