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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“The Coding task is an adjusted version of the Alphabet Coding Task-15 which measures information processing speed and is sensitive to aging (Salthouse, 1996; Savage, 1984).”
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“Various accounts explain age-related decline by general resource limitations, such as decreased processing speed Salthouse (1996, 2000)), decreased perfusion and blood flow (Spiro & Brady, 2011), and recruitment of other brain areas (Li et al., 2001; Cabeza, 2001; Davis et al., 2008).”
Background
Visual prediction cues can facilitate behavioural and neural speech processing in young and older adults
Tremblay, P., Basirat, A., Pinto, S., et al. (2021) · Neuropsychologia · doi:10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2021.107949 · Cited by 10
“Given the well-established cognitive decline that occurs in aging (e.g., Park et al., 2002; Salthouse, 1996; Salthouse, 2009), we expected that the auditory N2, which indexes cognitive and executive processes (e.g. Czigler et al., 1997; Falkenstein et al., 1999; Folstein and Van Petten, 2008),…”
Background
Age as a moderator of the relationship between planning and temporal information processing
Jablonska, K., Stanczyk, M., Piotrowska, M., Szymaszek, A., Lukomska, B., Bednarek, H., & Szela̧g, E. (2022) · Scientific Reports · doi:10.1038/s41598-022-05316-6 · Cited by 13
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“Processing speed I: Number Comparison (‘Zahlen vergleichen’) Comparison of two single-digit numbers separated by a horizontal line (participants should react if same number) Pattern Comparison\Letter Comparison [36]”
Background
Mapping of Structure-Function Age-Related Connectivity Changes on Cognition Using Multimodal MRI
Pur, D. R., Preti, M. G., Ribaupierre, A. D., Ville, D. V. D., Eagleson, R. A., Mella, N., & de Ribaupierre, S. (2022) · Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience · doi:10.3389/fnagi.2022.757861 · Cited by 10
“Processing speed involves coordinated activity across multiple neural networks, and so engages perception, decision making, planning, motor performance, and task evaluation (Salthouse, 1996; Eckert et al., 2010).”
Background
Computerised cognitive training tools and online nutritional group counselling for people with mild cognitive impairment: study protocol of a completely digital, randomised, controlled trial
Scheerbaum, P., Book, S., Jank, M., Hanslian, E., Dell’Oro, M., Schneider, J. A., Scheuermann, J.-S., Bösl, S., Jeitler, M., Keßler, C. S., et al. (2022) · BMJ Open · doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2021-060473 · Cited by 10
Older adults process the probability of winning sooner but weigh it less during lottery decisions
Chen, H.-Y., Lombardi, G., Li, S., & Hare, T. A. (2022) · Scientific Reports · doi:10.1038/s41598-022-15432-y · Cited by 13
Processing speed mediates the relationship between brain structure and semantic fluency in aging
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Orienting network impairment of attention in patients with mild traumatic brain injury
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What can evidence accumulation modelling tell us about human social cognition?
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“One typical finding within ageing research is that response times on cognitive tasks, such as lexical decision-making, increase with age (Salthouse, 1996).”
Background
Should Intelligence Tests Be Speeded or Unspeeded? A Brief Review of the Effects of Time Pressure on Response Processes and an Experimental Study with Raven’s Matrices
Gonthier, C. (2023) · Journal of Intelligence · doi:10.3390/jintelligence11060120 · Cited by 14
“Given that complex operations germane to fluid reasoning (such as rule induction) are constrained by simpler operations related to basic manipulation of information, time pressure is likely to affect complex operations to a greater extent (Salthouse 1996).”
BackgroundInfluential
Evidence Accumulation Rate Moderates the Relationship between Enriched Environment Exposure and Age-Related Response Speed Declines
Brosnan, M. B., O'Neill, M., Loughnane, G. M., Pearce, D. J., Fleming, B., Zhou, S.-H., Chong, T. T. ‐., Nobre, A. C., O’Connell, R. G., & Bellgrove, M. A. (2023) · Journal of Neuroscience · doi:10.1523/jneurosci.2260-21.2023 · Cited by 10
“The speed with which older adults respond to sensory input (hereafter referred to as response speed) has been accepted as a robust index of an individual’s vulnerability to cognitive decline (Bublak et al., 2011; Deary et al., 2010; Gregory et al., 2008; Kochan et al., 2016; Ritchie et al., 2014; Salthouse, 1996).”
Background
Assessing Cognition in Older Adults with the WAIS–IV, WMS–IV, and ACS
Drozdick, L. W., Holdnack, J. A., Salthouse, T. A., & Cullum, C. M. (2013) · Elsevier eBooks · doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-386934-0.00009-2 · Cited by 10
Self-citation
Stochastic accumulation of feature information in perception and memory
Kent, C. D., Guest, D., Adelman, J. S., & Lamberts, K. (2014) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00412 · Cited by 9
WAIS-IV Profiles in First-Ever Unilateral Ischemic Stroke Patients
Theiling, J., Petermann, F., & Daseking, M. (2013) · Zeitschrift für Neuropsychologie · doi:10.1024/1016-264x/a000104 · Cited by 10
“In the literature, it was proposed that mental slowness is dynamically related to other cognitive functions (Rasquin et al., 2004; Salthouse, 1996) and it appears that approximately 50 % to 70 %of stroke patients experience mental slowness as one of the most prominent cognitive deficit (Hostenbach et al.”
Background
Searching for Information on the World Wide Web with a Search Engine: A Pilot Study on Cognitive Flexibility in Younger and Older Users
Dommès, A., Chevalier, A., & Rossetti, M. (2010) · Psychological Reports · doi:10.2466/pr0.106.2.490-498 · Cited by 10
Age‐related changes in visually evoked electrical brain activity
Plomp, G., Kunchulia, M., & Herzog, M. H. (2011) · Human Brain Mapping · doi:10.1002/hbm.21273 · Cited by 10
“The strong masking effects in elderly are in line with the observation that processing slows down with age, affecting cognition and behavior [Birren and Fisher, 1995; Park and Reuter-Lorenz, 2009; Salthouse, 1996].”
Zusammenhang von beruflicher Pendelmobilität mit Stresserleben und Gesundheit
Rüger, H., & Schulze, A. (2015) · Prävention und Gesundheitsförderung · doi:10.1007/s11553-015-0521-2 · Cited by 10
Mindfulness as an Opportunity to Narrow the Grey Digital Divide
Bercovitz, K. E., & Pagnini, F. (2016) · Advances in psychology, mental health, and behavioral studies (APMHBS) book series · doi:10.4018/978-1-4666-9986-1.ch009 · Cited by 10
Atención y concentración
Roig-Rovira, T., Lago, M. R., & Lapedriza, N. P. (2011) · Elsevier eBooks · doi:10.1016/b978-84-458-2066-7.00003-3 · Cited by 12
Aging and confidence judgments in item recognition.
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“This slowing has often been interpreted as a general slowing of processing in the central nervous system because it occurs across a variety of tasks (e.g., Birren, 1965; Brinley, 1965; Cerella, 1985, 1990, 1991, 1994; Fisk & Warr, 1996; Salthouse, 1985, 1996; Salthouse, Kausler, & Saults, 1988).”
Background
Planning ability impairments in probable Alzheimer's disease patients: Evidence from the Tower of London test
Satler, C. E., Guimarães, L. D. M., & Tomaz, C. A. B. (2017) · Dementia & Neuropsychologia · doi:10.1590/1980-57642016dn11-020006 · Cited by 10
Cognitive abilities and personality traits in old age across four years: More stability than change
Aschwanden, D., Martin, M., & Allemand, M. (2017) · Journal of Research in Personality · doi:10.1016/j.jrp.2017.08.002 · Cited by 15
Neurociencia cognitiva del envejecimiento. Aportaciones y retos
Dı́az, F., & Pereiro, A. X. (2017) · Revista Española de Geriatría y Gerontología · doi:10.1016/j.regg.2017.07.002 · Cited by 12
“Así, hipótesis explicativas sobre el envejecimiento cognitivo como la del enlentecimiento cognitivo 24-26 , la de las limitaciones en los recursos de procesamiento 27 y de memoria de trabajo 28 , o la del déﬁcit 30 en el control inhibitorio 29 están siendo enriquecidas desde la NCE .”
Background
Expectation of movement generates contrasting changes in multifinger synergies in young and older adults
Tillman, M., & Ambike, S. (2018) · Experimental Brain Research · doi:10.1007/s00221-018-5333-0 · Cited by 10
“Aging also leads to increased time for processing information (Birren 1974; Salthouse 1996), which manifests as cognitive slowing and contributes to longer RT.”
Background
The roles of meaningfulness and prior knowledge in younger and older adults' memory performance
Skinner, D. J., & Price, J. (2019) · Applied Cognitive Psychology · doi:10.1002/acp.3552 · Cited by 10
Age, but not severity of injury, mediates decline in executive function: Validation of the rodent touchscreen paradigm for preclinical models of traumatic brain injury
Arulsamy, A., Corrigan, F., & Collins‐Praino, L. E. (2019) · Behavioural Brain Research · doi:10.1016/j.bbr.2019.111912 · Cited by 9
Attentional Reorientation and Inhibition Adjustment in a Verbal Stroop Task: A Lifespan Approach to Interference and Sequential Congruency Effect
Ménétré, E., & Laganaro, M. (2019) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02028 · Cited by 9
“The first one stands for a general slowing explaining the exacerbated reaction times in the elderly (Salthouse and Badcock, 1991; Salthouse, 1996), while the second suggests that the elderly suffer from a frontal lobe degeneration, altering executive performances (West, 1996; West and Bell, 1997).”
BackgroundResult
Age-differential relationships among dopamine D1 binding potential, fusiform BOLD signal, and face-recognition performance
Turner, M. P., Fischer, H., Sivakolundu, D. K., Hubbard, N. A., Zhao, Y., Bart Rypma, A., & Bäckman, L. (2019) · NeuroImage · doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2019.116232 · Cited by 9
“Performance in many cognitive domains declines with advancing adult age (e.g., B€ackman et al., 2001, 2006; Di et al., 2014; Nyberg et al., 2009, 2012; Persson et al., 2005; R€onnlund et al., 2005; Rypma and Prabhakaran, 2009; Salthouse, 1994, 1996; Schaie, Willis, & O’Hanlon, 1994).”
Background
Speaking Clearly for Older Adults With Normal Hearing: The Role of Speaking Rate
Krause, J. C., & Panagiotopoulos, A. P. (2019) · Journal of Speech Language and Hearing Research · doi:10.1044/2019_jslhr-h-19-0094 · Cited by 9
A Delayed Advantage: Multi-Session Training at Evening Hours Leads to Better Long-Term Retention of Motor Skill in the Elderly
Gal, C., Gabitov, E., Maaravi-Hesseg, R., Karni, A., & Korman, M. (2019) · Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience · doi:10.3389/fnagi.2019.00321 · Cited by 11
“…beneficial for professional pianists to maintain their performance skills, including motor speed, into advanced age (Krampe and Ericsson, 1996) and skilled typists were able to maintain their speed of typing up to 72 years of age, if some practice was afforded every other day (Salthouse, 1996).”
Background
A Latent Transition Analysis Model to Assess Change in Cognitive States over Three Occasions: Results from the Rush Memory and Aging Project
Zammit, A. R., Bennett, D. A., Hall, C. B., Lipton, R. B., Katz, M. J., & Terrera, G. M. (2019) · Journal of Alzheimer s Disease · doi:10.3233/jad-190778 · Cited by 11
Core mechanisms underlying the long-term stability of working memory traces still work in aging
Jarjat, G., Plancher, G., & Portrat, S. (2020) · L’Année psychologique · doi:10.3917/anpsy1.202.0203 · Cited by 10

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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