Bruine de Bruin Wändi, McNair Simon J, Taylor Andrea L, Summers Barbara, Strough JoNell
Centre for Decision Research, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK (WBDB, SJM, ALT, BS)
Department of Engineering and Public Policy, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA (WBDB)
Med Decis Making. 2015 Jan;35(1):22-6. doi: 10.1177/0272989X14542485. Epub 2014 Jul 17.
Numeracy refers to people's ability to use numbers. Low numeracy has been associated with difficulties in understanding risk-benefit information and making health decisions. Older adults tend to perform worse than younger adults on measures of numeracy, but some theories of aging suggest that older adults may lack motivation for such tasks. We therefore test whether age differences in numeracy performance are mediated by a reduced motivation to think hard about complex problems-as measured by need for cognition.
We recruited an age-diverse convenience sample of 306 UK adults. They completed measures of numeracy and need for cognition. They self-reported their educational attainment and other demographics.
Older age was related to lower numeracy and lower need for cognition. The negative relationship between age and numeracy was mediated by need for cognition. These findings held after we controlled for educational attainment and other demographic factors.
Older adults may show lower numeracy performance due to lack of motivation. We discuss strategies for improving people's motivation to complete numeracy measures and other numerical tasks.
数字能力是指人们运用数字的能力。低数字能力与理解风险效益信息及做出健康决策方面的困难有关。在数字能力测试中，老年人往往比年轻人表现更差，但一些衰老理论表明，老年人可能缺乏完成此类任务的动力。因此，我们测试数字能力表现上的年龄差异是否由思考复杂问题的动力降低所介导，这种动力通过认知需求来衡量。
我们招募了306名英国成年人组成的年龄各异的便利样本。他们完成了数字能力和认知需求的测试。他们自我报告了自己的教育程度和其他人口统计学信息。
年龄较大与较低的数字能力和较低的认知需求相关。年龄与数字能力之间存在的负相关关系由认知需求介导。在我们控制了教育程度和其他人口统计学因素后，这些发现依然成立。
老年人可能由于缺乏动力而表现出较低的数字能力。我们讨论了提高人们完成数字能力测试及其他数字任务的动力的策略。
