An important factor to be considered with old age is

cognitive decline Dementia is a disorder which manifests as a set of related symptoms, which usually surfaces when the brain is damaged by injury or disease. The symptoms involve progressive impairments in memory, thinking, and behavior, which negatively affec ...

. These information technologies need to be centered on factors that define cognition. This article highlights some of the important

conceptual model A conceptual model is a representation of a system. It consists of concepts used to help people knowledge, know, understanding, understand, or simulation, simulate a subject the model represents. In contrast, physical models are physical object su ...

s and

theories A theory is a rational type of abstract thinking about a phenomenon, or the results of such thinking. The process of contemplative and rational thinking is often associated with such processes as observational study or research. Theories may be s ...

that govern the design of such systems. The main focus is to look at the different information processing

technologies Technology is the application of knowledge to reach practical goals in a specifiable and reproducible way. The word ''technology'' may also mean the product of such an endeavor. The use of technology is widely prevalent in medicine, science, ...

that are presently used for enabling better functional performance. As

baby boomers Baby boomers, often shortened to boomers, are the Western demographic cohort following the Silent Generation and preceding Generation X. The generation is often defined as people born from 1946 to 1964, during the mid-20th century baby boom. Th ...

grow older, there exists a growing demand for a good support system that can ease their burden. Technology is ubiquitous in most social contexts in

industrialized countries A developed country (or industrialized country, high-income country, more economically developed country (MEDC), advanced country) is a sovereign state that has a high quality of life, developed economy and advanced technological infrastruct ...

, and has become an important part of everyday life as an integral component of most activities. The advent of technology has shown promising results in various fields such as the delivery of care and in-vehicle driving technology by focusing on the needs of older adults and placing them at the center of this

transformation Transformation may refer to: Science and mathematics In biology and medicine * Metamorphosis, the biological process of changing physical form after birth or hatching * Malignant transformation, the process of cells becoming cancerous * Trans ...

. Such systems would work in favor of improving and empowering not just the elderly but also their families while reducing some of the burden on them and increasing independence. However, there continues to exist a

digital divide The digital divide is the unequal access to digital technology, including smartphones, tablets, laptops, and the internet. The digital divide creates a division and inequality around access to information and resources. In the Information Age in ...

amongst the elderly

population Population typically refers to the number of people in a single area, whether it be a city or town, region, country, continent, or the world. Governments typically quantify the size of the resident population within their jurisdiction using a ...

with less use of technology causing them to become disenfranchised and disadvantaged.

Elderly and technology

Although older adults are increasingly using technology, they typically have more difficulty than younger adults in learning to use and operate them. The successful adoption of technology is becoming increasingly important for functional independence and the requirement to use new technologies is becoming pervasive in the lives of adults both young and old. Older adults are now more than ever faced with a wide range of new technologies on a daily basis. Thus an important task in the field of

gerontology Gerontology ( ) is the study of the social, cultural, psychological, cognitive, and biological aspects of aging. The word was coined by Ilya Ilyich Mechnikov in 1903, from the Greek , ''geron'', "old man" and , ''-logia'', "study of". The fie ...

is to develop training tools that can aid and improve

accessibility Accessibility is the design of products, devices, services, vehicles, or environments so as to be usable by people with disabilities. The concept of accessible design and practice of accessible development ensures both "direct access" (i. ...

for older adults. What makes this complex is the need for creating age-specific tools that match the cognitive and perceptual capabilities of the age group.

Cognition

Cognitive capabilities are our mental abilities by which we pay attention to the world, interpret the information around us, learn and remember, solve problems and make decisions. Age-related differences in cognitive functioning have been known to stem from the reduction of cognitive resources available, thus impairing older adults’ ability to carry out cognitively demanding tasks. Cognitive aging causes a change in mechanism related to

information processing Information processing is the change (processing) of information in any manner detectable by an observer. As such, it is a process that ''describes'' everything that happens (changes) in the universe, from the falling of a rock (a change in posit ...

and

working memory Working memory is a cognitive system with a limited capacity that can hold information temporarily. It is important for reasoning and the guidance of decision-making and behavior. Working memory is often used synonymously with short-term memory, ...

function. According to Craik, these mechanisms are responsible for age-related speed of decline in performance for mental processing along with a reduction of online cognitive resources available at any given time to process, store, retrieve, and transform information (

), focusing on a target, paying attention, and sensory processing of information. This is important since the inherent relationship between cognitive abilities and technology adoption points to the importance of ensuring that system interfaces are well designed and easy to use. The use of

information processing theory Information processing theory is the approach to the study of cognitive development evolved out of the American experimental tradition in psychology. Developmental psychologists who adopt the information processing perspective account for mental ...

in cognition looks at the role of the three stages of

memory Memory is the faculty of the mind by which data or information is encoded, stored, and retrieved when needed. It is the retention of information over time for the purpose of influencing future action. If past events could not be remembered, ...

related to retrieving information, transferring and recalling. Cognitive information processing focuses on different aspects of instruction and how those aspects can either facilitate or hinder learning and memory. It emphasizes using strategies that focus the learner's attention, promotes encoding and retrieval, and provide for meaningful, effective practice across learning environments and curriculum.

Compensatory technologies

Compensatory systems can be used to support cognitive decline and impairment and thereby improve performance. They range from simple home reminder systems to sophisticated robotic support systems. While there are numerous technological interventions at present being developed, there continues to be an increase in the amount of research and work that focuses on providing compensatory support for a number of executive functional impairments for the elderly. Early work on prospective memory aids and assistive devices investigated the application of commonplace technologies which were inexpensive, easy to use, and had no

social stigma Social stigma is the disapproval of, or discrimination against, an individual or group based on perceived characteristics that serve to distinguish them from other members of a society. Social stigmas are commonly related to culture, gender, rac ...

. Due to the inherent limitation of such devices, there was a need to design portable devices that provide cues and relevant information effective as memory aids. Listed below are some of the information technologies that have been developed: The future of information technology lies in creating context-dependent devices, such as using his or her physical and social environment. If the device was aware of the user’s location, for example, it could give reminders relevant to that location. Information about the user’s environment might also provide clues to the device on what reminders might be important or unnecessary.

Social cues ''Social Cues'' is the fifth studio album by American rock band Cage the Elephant. Announced on January 31, 2019, the album was released on April 19, 2019. The album is the first by the band to feature a title track. Social Cues won the award for ...

might allow the device to know when a reminder would be inappropriate; such as when the user is talking with another person and might not want to be interrupted.

Information processing theory

Information processing theory Information processing theory is the approach to the study of cognitive development evolved out of the American experimental tradition in psychology. Developmental psychologists who adopt the information processing perspective account for mental ...

is an approach used to study cognitive development evolved out of the American experimental tradition in psychology. Developmental psychologists who adopt the information-processing perspective account for mental development in terms of maturational changes in basic components of a child’s mind. The theory is based on the idea that humans process the information they receive, rather than merely responding to stimuli. This perspective equates the mind to a computer, which is responsible for analyzing information from the environment. According to the standard information-processing model for mental development, the mind’s machinery includes attention mechanisms for bringing information in, working memory for actively manipulating information, and long term memory for passively holding information so that it can be used in the future. A primary focus of information processing is on memory.

Stage theory

The most widely accepted model is called ‘Stage Theory’ based on the work by Atkinson and Shriffin shown in figure 1. The model focuses on how information is stored in the memory in three stages. In this theory, information is thought to be processed in a serial, discontinuous manner as it moves from one stage to another. File:Multi-store-diagram(psychology).png, Figure1: Stage Theory

Other theories

There are many recent theories concerning information processing that differ from the stage theory model, and today, research and study continue to modify existing beliefs in this area of

cognitive psychology Cognitive psychology is the scientific study of mental processes such as attention, language use, memory, perception, problem solving, creativity, and reasoning. Cognitive psychology originated in the 1960s in a break from behaviorism, which ...

. Despite the fact that there are commonly accepted pieces, the complete picture of how information is processed continues to change.

Levels of processing The Levels of Processing model, created by Fergus I. M. Craik and Robert S. Lockhart in 1972, describes memory recall of stimuli as a function of the depth of mental processing. Deeper levels of analysis produce more elaborate, longer-lasting, an ...

: One of the first alternatives to the stage theory was developed by Craik and Lockhart (1972) and labeled the levels of processing model. Specifically, the levels of processing theory hold that memory is not three-staged which separates it immediately from the stage theory model.

Dual Coding Theory Dual-coding theory, a theory of cognition, was hypothesized by Allan Paivio of the University of Western Ontario in 1971. In developing this theory, Paivio used the idea that the formation of mental images aids learning. According to Paivio, there a ...

: Another theory in the information processing debate is Paivio’s work in dual coding. This theory gives equal significance to both verbal and non-verbal processing and suggests that there are two separate systems for processing these types of information. Schema theory, parallel distributed processing, and

connectionist Connectionism refers to both an approach in the field of cognitive science that hopes to explain mental phenomena using artificial neural networks (ANN) and to a wide range of techniques and algorithms using ANNs in the context of artificial int ...

models: Rumelhart (1980), working in conjunction with others, developed the schema theory of information processing and memory. He suggested that a schema is a data structure for representing generic concepts stored in memory.