JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Online research allows cognitive psychologists to collect high-quality data from a diverse pool of participants with fewer resources. However, researchers and clinicians working with aging populations have been slow to adopt online testing. Compared to their younger peers, older adults may be less familiar with computer usage, leading to differences in performance when completing tasks online in their home versus in the laboratory under the supervision of an experimenter.

Objective:

The goal of this study was to compare performance on computerized cognitive tasks completed at-home and in the laboratory among healthy older adults using a within-subjects design. Familiarity and attitudes surrounding computer use were also examined.

Methods:

Thirty-two community dwelling healthy adults over the age of 65 completed computerized versions of the color-word Stroop task, paired associates learning, and verbal and matrix reasoning in two testing environments: At-home (unsupervised) and in the laboratory (supervised). The paper-and-pencil neuropsychological versions of these tasks were also administered, along with questionnaires examining computer attitudes and familiarity. The order of testing environments was counterbalanced across participants.

Results:

Analyses of variance conducted on scores from the computerized cognitive tasks revealed no significant effect of testing environment and no consistent correlation with computer familiarity or attitudes. These null effects were confirmed with follow-up Bayesian analyses. Moreover, performance on the computerized tasks correlated positively with performance on their paper-and-pencil equivalents.

Conclusions:

To our knowledge, this is the first study to show comparable performance on computerized cognitive tasks in at-home and in-lab testing environments. These findings have implications for researchers and clinicians wishing to harness online testing to collect meaningful data from older populations.