%0 Journal Article
%T Memorizing while walking: increase in dual-task costs from young adulthood to old age
%J Psychology and aging
%D 2000
%A Lindenberger, U.
%A Marsiske, M.
%A Baltes, P. B.
%V 15
%N 3
%P 417-436
%X The dual task of memorizing word lists while walking was predicted to become more difficult with age because balance and gait are in greater need of "attentional resources." Forty-seven young (ages 20-30 years), 45 middle-aged (40-50), and 48 old (60-70) adults were trained to criterion in a mnemonic technique and instructed to walk quickly and accurately on 2 narrow tracks of different path complexity. Then. participants encoded the word lists while sitting, standing, or walking on either track; likewise, speed and accuracy of walking performance were assessed with and without concurrent memory encoding. Dual-task costs increased with age in both domains; relative to young adults, the effect size of the overall increase was 0.98 standard deviation units for middle-aged and 1.47 standard deviation units for old adults. It is argued that sensory and motor aspects of behavior are increasingly in need of cognitive control with advancing age.<p />
%G 
%I American Psychological Association
%@ 0882-7974
%U http://dx.doi.org/10.1037//0882-7974.15.3.417