Older people, for instance, might believe their memory and intellectual power is insufficient, and therefore may avoid learning how to use a computer, or may shy away from a training course in strategies for learning and retaining new information. You can teach an old dog new tricks. It's not going to occur automatically. In the meantime, other researchers are approaching the memory puzzle by looking beyond the strategic to the very tactical issues faced in everyday life. But many jobs are like crossword puzzles.
Novel problem solving is less important than experience.
Thus, says Salthouse, the study suggests that even though older people may not perform as well in spontaneous activities, they can do the job just as well if they have experience in that field. Not surprisingly, they found younger adults more likely to use ATMs than older adults are. But in all age groups, ATM users took advantage of more technologies and had more experience with computers. Nonusers avoided ATMs because they felt unsafe or uncomfortable dealing with machines. For instance, home health-care technology has begun to produce devices that would allow older patients to care for themselves.