Experimental Psychology, Cognition, and Human Aging

Why an experimental psychology of ageing? Ageing is a phenomenon that is shrouded in myths. This book, which contributes significantly to the clarification of those myths, deals with the effects of human ageing on the skills and behaviours that enter into the traditional content areas of experimental psychology, namely sensation, perception, attention, learning, memory, concept acquisition, problem solving, and reasoning. Each of these areas is concerned with cognitive processes that determine our functioning in the everyday world. All organisms grow old - including, most certainly, human beings. What makes the human organism unique is that it processes awareness of its own ageing. However, awareness alone does not assure a true understanding of how we differ behaviourally as elderly adults from what we were like as young adults. This book offers substantial findings and analyses that enhance our understanding of human ageing.