# AGING, EXPERTISE, TEXT ORGANIZATION, AND COMPREHENSION

> **NIH NIH R01** · DECISION SYSTEMS · 1990 · $118,064

## Abstract

Previous research suggests that age-related deficits in test processing
are due in part to declining working memory capacity.  The proposed
research examines if age differences are minimized when  a) readers are
experts in the domain that the text is about, and  b) the text is well-
organized.  Expertise and text organization should promote efficient
reading strategies for Older as well as Young readers by minimizing the
demands of comprehension on working memory.  Armed with expert knowledge
and guided by well-organized text, readers should readily identify and
focus on relevant information, which should guide the construction of the
text representation.  The domain of aviation is examined because it is
well-defined, has real world importance, and should minimize age-cohort
differences between Older and Young subjects.
The experiments also examine the impact of expertise and text
organization on Older and Young readers of average and high verbal
ability.  Previous research suggests that verbal ability may mediate many
age-related differences.  The experiments will identify the impact of
expertise and text organization on both age and verbal ability.  The
results should illuminate the causes of age-related declines in text
processing, and suggest ways to design texts that are tailored to the
cognitive strengths of elders.
Eight experiments will test if expertise and text organization minimize
age differences in comprehension processes.  Experiments 1-4 test average
verbal Older and Young subjects.  Experiments 1-2 (and 5-6) test if Older
and Young pilots use more efficient focus strategies than nonpilots when
reading aviation narratives, and if Young nonpilots use more efficient
strategies than Older nonpilots.  Experiments 3-4 (and 7-8) test if
pilots' focus strategies facilitate referent assignment and inference
processes involved in integrating old and new information into a coherent
representation.  Nonpilots (or pilots reading narratives outside their
domain of expertise) are likely to use focus strategies that interfere
with comprehension.  All experiments also measure working memory capacity
to test if expertise and text organization minimize age differences in
text comprehension by influencing working memory.  In all experiments,
reading time and accuracy are recorded, and the results analyzed with
ANOVA and correlational techniques.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 3120195
- **Project number:** 5R01AG008521-02
- **Recipient organization:** DECISION SYSTEMS
- **Principal Investigator:** Daniel G Morrow
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 1990
- **Award amount:** $118,064
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 1989-08-01 → 1992-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/3120195

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 3120195, AGING, EXPERTISE, TEXT ORGANIZATION, AND COMPREHENSION (5R01AG008521-02). Retrieved via MORVS 2026-10-25 from https://api.morvs.ai/grant/nih/3120195. Licensed CC0.

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