Methodological Issues in the Assessment of Technology for Adaptive Aging

Methodological Issues in the Assessment of Technology Use for Older Adults (Technology for Adaptive Aging)

Main idea

No context is more complex, it seems, than the flux and rapid progression that is technology use in modern Western societies. The start of the twenty-first century has been characterized by mind-numbing changes in the way in which we engage the world, from the advent of the microcomputer through development of mobile communications technology. Yet the evolution of technology is merely one aspect of the problem. Historical trends in technology encompass individuals who are more or less knowledgeable, more or less skilled, and more or less avoidant of learning how to engage technological innovation. Individual differences in existing knowledge and skill provide a background that strongly influences adaptation to new technologies. Moreover, the normative and non-normative changes that accompany aging create a situation in which individuals with changing physical, social, and cognitive resources (the “gains and losses” associated with adult development) must adapt to new technologies while simultaneously adjusting to and compensating for various negative effects of aging so as to achieve “successful aging”.

Main objectives

while simultaneously adjusting to and compensating for various negative effects of aging so as to achieve “successful aging”.