Age and Gender-Related Differences in Strategy Use for Route Information

Abstract

Adults, ranging in age from 20 to 78 years, were required to give directions to a hypothetical stranger while looking at a map. The direction giving was scored according to the strategies employed by the direction giver (e.g., landmarks, relational turns, road names, and cardinality). The "map present" direction-giving paradigm was employed to reduce the influence of memory. The results suggest that the aging decline in spatial abilities does not influence direction-giving strategies when memory demands are minimal. Older adults are as proficient as young adults when employing direction-giving strategies. Middle-age females employed a significantly higher frequency of strategies relative to young males, young females, middle-age males, and older females. When accuracy was examined, gender-related differences favoring males were obtained for the relational strategy.