Methodological Issues, Explanation, and Theory in Experimental Aging Research

Abstract

The cognitive skills and behaviors brought into the laboratory by experimental psychologists are by no means trivial ones. Indeed, these skills and behaviors enter into a wide variety of activities in the real world that exists outside the laboratory. Knowledge about adult age differences and changes in these skills and behaviors is indispensable for our understanding of the capabilities and limitations of a rapidly growing elderly population. In addition, research by experimental psychologists often provides valuable insights into the reasons for age-related deficits in skills and behaviors. Without due consideration of the findings derived from experimental research on aging, the lives of our senior citizens may continue to be regulated by rules that, at one extreme, force retirement from work at some arbitrary age and, at the other extreme, permit operation of a lethal weapon, namely the automobile, by any slow-reacting octogenarian capable of passing a simple visual test and paying a small license fee.