Lindenberger Ulman, Lövdén Martin, Schellenbach Michael, Li Shu-Chen, Krüger Antonio
Center for Lifespan Psychology, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin, Germany.
Gerontology. 2008;54(1):59-68. doi: 10.1159/000116114. Epub 2008 Feb 6.
Based on resource-oriented conceptions of successful lifespan development, we propose three principles for evaluating assistive technology: (a) net resource release; (b) person specificity, and (c) proximal versus distal frames of evaluation. We discuss how these general principles can aid the design and evaluation of assistive technology in adulthood and old age, and propose two technological strategies, one targeting sensorimotor and the other cognitive functioning. The sensorimotor strategy aims at releasing cognitive resources such as attention and working memory by reducing the cognitive demands of sensory or sensorimotor aspects of performance. The cognitive strategy attempts to provide adaptive and individualized cuing structures orienting the individual in time and space by providing prompts that connect properties of the environment to the individual's action goals. We argue that intelligent assistive technology continuously adjusts the balance between 'environmental support' and 'self-initiated processing' in person-specific and aging-sensitive ways, leading to enhanced allocation of cognitive resources. Furthermore, intelligent assistive technology may foster the generation of formerly latent cognitive resources by activating developmental reserves (plasticity). We conclude that 'lifespan technology', if co-constructed by behavioral scientists, engineers, and aging individuals, offers great promise for improving both the transition from middle adulthood to old age and the degree of autonomy in old age in present and future generations.
基于成功寿命发展的资源导向概念，我们提出了评估辅助技术的三项原则：（a）净资源释放；（b）个体特异性；以及（c）近端与远端评估框架。我们讨论了这些一般原则如何有助于成年期和老年期辅助技术的设计与评估，并提出了两种技术策略，一种针对感觉运动功能，另一种针对认知功能。感觉运动策略旨在通过减少表现的感觉或感觉运动方面的认知需求来释放诸如注意力和工作记忆等认知资源。认知策略试图通过提供将环境属性与个体行动目标联系起来的提示，来提供适应性和个性化的提示结构，从而在时间和空间上引导个体。我们认为，智能辅助技术以个体特异性和对衰老敏感的方式不断调整“环境支持”与“自我启动处理”之间的平衡，从而导致认知资源分配的增强。此外，智能辅助技术可能通过激活发育储备（可塑性）来促进以前潜在的认知资源的产生。我们得出结论，如果行为科学家、工程师和老年人共同构建“寿命技术”，那么它对于改善当代和后代从中年到老年的过渡以及老年期的自主程度具有巨大的潜力。
