COMPUTER ANXIETY IN YOUNG AND OLDER ADULTS - IMPLICATIONS FOR HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTIONS IN OLDER POPULATIONS

This research examined the construct of computer anxiety in young and older adults in the context of a computer-based cognitive test. There were two primary questions: (a) Is there an age difference in computer anxiety? (b) What is the relationship between computer anxiety and ag e-related differences in performance on computer-based cognitive tasks ? A total of 20 young adults and 20 older adults were administered a s eries of computer tasks and a computer anxiety measure. Results indica ted that older adults had significantly higher computer anxiety than y ounger adults. Furthermore, the computer anxiety was unrelated to perf ormance as measured by percent correct on the task, but was related to performance as measured by decision time. Implications for interactio ns between older adults and computers are discussed. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.