Cited by 5,902Aging and Gerontology ResearchCognitive Abilities and TestingCognitive Functions and Memory

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The processing-speed theory of adult age differences in cognition

Salthouse, Timothy A.·1996·Psychological Review

DOI 10.1037/0033-295x.103.3.403

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Abstract

Advancing adult age is associated with reduced processing speed, which constrains cognitive performance.

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BackgroundInfluential
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Menegaux, A., Bäuerlein, F. J. B., Vania, A., Napiórkowski, N., Neitzel, J., Ruiz‐Rizzo, A. L., Müller, H. J., Sorg, C., & Finke, K. (2019) · NeuroImage · doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2019.116440 · Cited by 14
“…of the TVA-based methodology is that vSTM capacity estimation is controlled for potential influences of increased visual threshold and/or visual processing speed (Salthouse, 1996) in aging individuals by separate and independent estimations of these parameters (e.g Habekost and Starrfelt, 2009).”
Reasoning, fast and slow: How noncognitive factors may alter the ability-speed relationship
Shaw, A., Elizondo, F., & Wadlington, P. L. (2020) · Intelligence · doi:10.1016/j.intell.2020.101490 · Cited by 15
Blood Pressure and Brain Lesions in Patients With Atrial Fibrillation
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The Temporal Dynamics of Visual Processing in Multiple Sclerosis
Costa, S. L., Gonçalves, Ó. F., DeLuca, J., Chiaravalloti, N. D., Chakravarthi, R., & Almeida, J. (2015) · Applied Neuropsychology Adult · doi:10.1080/23279095.2015.1020157 · Cited by 14
“The interaction between PS and both working memory and learning deficits in MS has been discussed within the Salthouse theory of “limited time mechanism” (Salthouse, 1996).”
Background
Visual Memory Testing in Older Adults with Age-Related Visual Decline: A Measure of Memory Performance or Visual Functioning?
Drobny, J., Anstey, K. J., & Andrews, S. (2005) · Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology · doi:10.1080/138033990520241 · Cited by 13
“Remarkably, the size of the association was as large as that between cognitive function and processing speed, a variable identified as the most central underlying determinant of cognitive aging ( Salthouse, 1996 ).”
Background
Optimal Time-of-Day and Consolidation of Learning in Younger and Older Adults
Hogan, M., Kelly, C. A. M., Verrier, D. B., Newell, J., Hasher, L., & Robertson, I. H. (2009) · Experimental Aging Research · doi:10.1080/03610730802545366 · Cited by 13
“…have consistently observed age-related increases in intraindividual variability using measures of reaction time (Hogan, 2003; Myerson & Hale, 1993; Salthouse, 1996) and sensorimotor and cognitive abilities (Hertzog, Dixon, & Hultsch, 1992; Hultsch, MacDonald, & Dixon, 2002; Li & Lindenberger,…”
BackgroundMethodInfluential
Effects of Item Difficulty on the Retrieval of Solutions during Cognitive Skill Acquisition: Age Differences
Onyper, S. V., Hoyer, W. J., & Cerella, J. (2008) · Aging Neuropsychology and Cognition · doi:10.1080/13825580701879907 · Cited by 13
“These findings are consistent with these mechanistic accounts, and with a large amount data showing age-related impairments in learning and memory as a function of increased task demands (e.g., Smith & Bayen, 2005; Salthouse, 1996; Verhaeghen & Salthouse, 1997), with previous reports of age-related delays in the acqui…”
Result
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“From these explicative candidates especially, two theoretical approaches have gained wide prominence, namely the processing-speed (eg, Cerella, 1991; Salthouse, 1996 ) and the inhibition-deficit hypothesis ( Hasher & Zacks, 1988 ; Hasher et al, 1999 ).”
Background
Intelligence, Belief in the Paranormal, Knowledge of Probability and Aging
Stuart‐Hamilton, I., Nayak, L., & Priest, L. (2006) · Educational Gerontology · doi:10.1080/03601270500476847 · Cited by 13
“It is well documented that older adults show a significant decline in intelligence, particularly fluid intelligence (e.g., Salthouse, 1996).”
Background
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Lövdén, M., & Wåhlin, Å. (2005) · Scandinavian Journal of Psychology · doi:10.1111/j.1467-9450.2005.00455.x · Cited by 13
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“…not yet been discussed in these studies, although many psychological studies point out that increasing age may bring with it a decrease in the speed with which many processing operations are executed, and that this reduction in speed may lead to disturbances in cognitive functions (Salthouse 1996).”
Background
Effects of orientation change during environmental learning on age-related difference in spatial memory
Yamamoto, N., Fox, M. J., Boys, E., & Ord, J. (2019) · Behavioural Brain Research · doi:10.1016/j.bbr.2019.03.012 · Cited by 15
“However, given that the speed with which cognitive operations are carried out is reduced overall in late adulthood [24,25], older adults might be disadvantaged when they need to swiftly extract spatial information from dynamic images of the environment during first-person navigation.”
Background
Cognitive Effects of Exogenous Melatonin Administration in Elderly Persons
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Multiple Perspectives on the Development of Adult Intelligence
Berg, C. A., & Sternberg, R. J. (2002) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-1-4615-0617-1_6 · Cited by 14
A Comparison of the Effect of a Low to Moderately Demanding Cognitive Task on Simulated Driving Performance and Heart Rate in Middle Aged and Young Adult Drivers
Reimer, B., Mehler, B. L., Coughlin, J. F., Wang, Y., D’Ambrosio, L. A., Roy, N., Long, J., Bell, A., Wood, D. R., & Dusek, J. A. (2008) · International Conference on Cyberworlds (CW) · doi:10.1109/cw.2008.69 · Cited by 13
“Salthouse [24] proposed that older adults have limited resources to perform complicated cognitive tasks.”
Background
Psychologie clinique de la personne âgée
(2000) · University of Ottawa Press eBooks · doi:10.1353/book12442 · Cited by 13
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“Decision time can be considered a measure of processing speed [51], which has been considered as a cognitive “primitive” underlying higher cognitive abilities [52].”
Background
Mechanisms of spatial contextual cueing in younger and older adults
Kojouharova, P., Nagy, B., Czigler, I., & Gaál, Z. A. (2023) · Psychophysiology · doi:10.1111/psyp.14361 · Cited by 11
White matter hyperintensity load mediates the relationship between age and cognition
Busby, N., Wilson, S. E., Wilmskoetter, J., Newman‐Norlund, R., Sayers, S., Newman-Norlund, S. E., Roth, R., Rorden, C., Fridriksson, J., & Bonilha, L. (2023) · Neurobiology of Aging · doi:10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2023.08.007 · Cited by 13
“Age-related cognitive changes have been historically attributed to a general process of slowing of cognitive abilities (Salthouse, 1996).”
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Badham, S. P. (2024) · Developmental Review · doi:10.1016/j.dr.2024.101124 · Cited by 16
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“Increased age was further associated with lower general fluid cognition performance (Birren, 1965; Salthouse, 1985; Salthouse, 1996; Salthouse and Madden, 2007), with some degree of unique age-related variance in individual domains of memory, perceptual-motor speed, and executive function (Figure…”
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“In terms of information processing in decision making, research demonstrating a variety of age-related cognitive deficits (e.g., in speed of processing and working memory; [ 40 ]) leads us to believe that judgment and decision-making capabilities may decline as an inevitable course of the aging process, particularly i…”
Background
From neural oscillations to reasoning ability: Simulating the effect of the theta-to-gamma cycle length ratio on individual scores in a figural analogy test
Chuderski, A., & Andrelczyk, K. (2015) · Cognitive Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.cogpsych.2015.01.001 · Cited by 12
“For example, it has been suggested that the number of items that can be simultaneously processed by WM depends on the speed of neurons underlying WM (Salthouse, 1996), the strength of distraction suppression (Kane & Engle, 2002), or the effectiveness of long-term memory search (Unsworth & Engle, 2007).”
The influence of semantic relationships on older adult map memory.
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“Furthermore, older adults have been shown to have access to fewer cognitive resources compared with younger adults (Park, 1999; Salthouse, 1996; Salthouse & Babcock, 1991; Schaie, 1994), and spatial abilities have been shown to decline with age (Dollinger, 1995; Salthouse, Babcock, Skovronek, Mitchell, & Palmon, 1990).”
Background
Age-Related Response Bias in the Decoding of Sad Facial Expressions
Fölster, M., Heß, U., Hühnel, I., & Werheid, K. (2015) · Behavioral Sciences · doi:10.3390/bs5040443 · Cited by 12
“As information processing speed decreases in older age [53], short presentation times may impair performance in older raters.”
Background
Effects of Perceptual and Contextual Enrichment on Visual Confrontation Naming in Adult Aging
Rogalski, Y., Peelle, J. E., & Reilly, J. J. (2011) · Journal of Speech Language and Hearing Research · doi:10.1044/1092-4388(2011/10-0178 · Cited by 12
An evidence accumulation model of acoustic cue weighting in vowel perception
Tillman, G., Benders, T., Brown, S. D., & van Ravenzwaaij, D. (2016) · Journal of Phonetics · doi:10.1016/j.wocn.2016.12.001 · Cited by 13
“For almost 20 years, the dominant theory of why performance declined with age was that aging resulted in a general slow-down (Salthouse, 1996).”
Background

Authors: Salthouse, T. A.
Affiliations: Georgia Institute of Technology (US)
Corresponding author: Salthouse, Timothy A.
Venue: Psychological Review
Publisher: American Psychological Association (APA)
Published: 1996
Volume: 103
Issue: 3
Pages: 403-428
ISSN: 0033-295X (ISSN-L)
1939-1471
DOI: 10.1037/0033-295x.103.3.403
OpenAlex: W2039752037
Semantic Scholar: 8ed819fe682efc79801d73e6343885be23d36fb8
Cited by: 5,902
References: 113
Citations by year: 2026: 269 · 2025: 251 · 2024: 232 · 2023: 214 · 2022: 217 · 2021: 273 · 2020: 240 · 2019: 296 · 2018: 280 · 2017: 273 · 2016: 284 · 2015: 309 · 2014: 267 · 2013: 266 · 2012: 283
FWCI: 81.40
Type: journal article
Language: en
Open access: closed
Locations: Psychological Review (publishedVersion)
PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders: National Institute on Aging (R37AG006826)
Topics: Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Aging and Gerontology Research
Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Cognitive Abilities and Testing
Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Cognitive Functions and Memory
Keywords: processing speed, age differences in cognition, fluid intelligence, cognitive aging
MeSH terms: Adolescent, Adult, Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Aging, Attention, Cognition, Female, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Reaction Time

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The processing-speed theory of adult age differences in cognition

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