Intervention Comparative Effectiveness for Adult Cognitive Training

Intervention Comparative Effectiveness for Adult Cognitive Training

The study will compare the effect of broad and directed (narrow) technology-based training on basic perceptual and cognitive abilities in older adults and on the performance of simulated tasks of daily living including driving and fraud avoidance.

Participants will be randomly assigned to four training conditions: broad training using either 1) Posit Science's web-based "BrainHQ" or 2) the video game Rise of Nations, or to directed training for 3) Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADL) training on both driving, American Association of Retired Persons (AARP)'s web-based older driver training program, and training for fraud avoidance, a web-based tutorial on finance and fraud, or 4) to an active control condition of puzzle solving. Training will take approximately 15-20 hr for each treatment condition. Before training begins, participants will take baseline ability tests of perception, attention, memory, and cognition, activities of daily living, as well as a driving simulator test for hazard perception, and a financial fraud recognition test. They will be tested again on these measures following training completion, and at a one-year follow-up from training completion.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Age 65 years and above
• Plans to stay in the Tallahassee, Leon County area for the next year
• Valid driver's license and drives at least once a month
• Adequate cognitive ability assessed via telephone interview using the Wechsler Memory Scale III with story A score >6 or story B score >4.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Terminal illness with life expectancy less than 12 months
• Reports or exhibits a disabling visual condition assessed as the inability to read printed material
• Reports or exhibits a disabling speech hearing and comprehension condition assessed by inability to hear and comprehend the screener's instructions
• Reports or exhibits a disabling speech production condition assessed as the inability to respond with comprehensible English speech to the screener's queries
• Reports or exhibits a disabling psychomotor condition assessed as the inability to use a keyboard and pointing device
• Has completed the AARP driver training course
• Has played the Rise of Nations video game
• Has trained with Posit Science's "BrainHQ"
• Has trained on the Mind Frontiers video game.