Searching for information on the World Wide Web with a search engine: a pilot study on cognitive flexibility in younger and older users.

This pilot study investigated the age-related differences in searching for information on the World Wide Web with a search engine. 11 older adults (6 men, 5 women; M age=59 yr., SD=2.76, range=55-65 yr.) and 12 younger adults (2 men, 10 women; M=23.7 yr., SD=1.07, range=22-25 yr.) had to conduct six searches differing in complexity, and for which a search method was or was not induced. The results showed that the younger and older participants provided with an induced search method were less flexible than the others and produced fewer new keywords. Moreover, older participants took longer than the younger adults, especially in the complex searches. The younger participants were flexible in the first request and spontaneously produced new keywords (spontaneous flexibility), whereas the older participants only produced new keywords when confronted by impasses (reactive flexibility). Aging may influence web searches, especially the nature of keywords used.