ABSTRACT

This chapter reviews sources of individual differences among older adults and discusses the potential implications for design. A common myth about aging is that all older adults are alike, and most views are fairly negative: old people are sick, unable to learn, slow, disinterested in new activities, technophobic, and most of them live in some type of institutional setting. Older adults also vary in educational and health status, literacy, culture/ethnicity, skills, and of course life experiences, and these differences contribute to the inter-individual variability seen within an age group. Intra-individual differences among older adults may reflect differences in performance due to the aging process such as changes in visual acuity or processing speed that occur from young adulthood to old age; disease; or learning and experience. Older adults with low Socio-economic status are also more likely to experience problems with social isolation and loneliness, which are strong predictors of physical, cognitive, and emotional wellbeing.