Feedback Specificity Requirements for Learning in Younger and Older Adults: The Role of Cognitive Resources and Task Demand

The amount of feedback needed to learn a new task has long been debated ( cf. Schmidt & Bjork, 1992; Van Merrienboer & Sweller, 2005). One potential answer to the amount of feedback required is that feedback should be contingent upon the learner's cognitive resources and demands imposed by the task (McLaughlin, Rogers, & Fisk, 2006). To test this model, a study is proposed that accounts for the learner's cognitive resources by comparing samples of populations with known differences, older and younger adults (Horn & Cattell, 1967; Salthouse & Babcock, 1991). To account for task demands, a simple rule-based cue learning task has been created. Participants will be provided with varying levels of feedback specificty while learning the task. We predict younger adults will benefit from less feedback support while older adults benefit from more feedback support. Theoretical and applied contributions are also discussed.