Exploring collaborative problem solving in adulthood |
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Authors: | Roger A Dixon Diane P Fox Lee Trevithick Rebecca Brundin |
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Institution: | (1) Department of Psychology, University of Victoria, V8W 3P5 Victoria, British Columbia, Canada |
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Abstract: | Collaborative problem solving occurs in situations in which two or more individuals cooperate in appraising, representing,
and solving a variety of cognitive tasks. Collaborative groups are the context for much everyday cognitive activity in adulthood.
Collaboration has been explored as a means through which older adults may maintain high levels of performance, perhaps compensating
for individual-level cognitive and neurological decline. This study explored the effects of collaboration (group size) and
adult age on solving both fixed- and unrestricted-alternatives 20 Questions tasks. Younger (M=24.3 years) and older (M=67.9 years) adults were randomly assigned to one of three homogeneous group size conditions: individuals, dyads, and tetrads.
Results indicated some dissociation between individual-level performance (poorer for older adults) and collaborative performance
(better for older adults). For the fixed-alternatives task, older adults produced more of the relatively inefficient hypothesis-scanning
questions than did younger adults. In contrast, older collaborative groups produced more of the efficient constraint-seeking
questions than hhpothesis-scanning questions, and an amount equivalent to that of younger adults. Overall performance for
the difficult unrestricted-alternatives task was less efficient for both younger and older adults. The roles of task type,
group characteristics, and adult age are discussed. |
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Keywords: | Aging collaborative cognition compensation problem solving 20 questions |
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