B - 78 Virtual Reality Versus Analog Performance and the Age-Related Paradox of Prospective Memory

Abstract Objective A prospective memory (PM) task in virtual reality (VR) was developed to investigate whether older adults perform better when tested in true-to-life environments, as they do in naturalistic environments according to the age-related paradox. The purpose of this study was to compare younger and older adults on PM tasks in analog and VR environments. Method Older adults (N = 87; ages 60–90) and younger adults (N = 54; ages 18–26) were administered PM tasks using analog and virtual reality environments, as part of the Virtual Kitchen Protocol. Results A two-way, mixed-subjects analysis of variance indicated that both age groups performed better on the analog PM task than on the VR task (F[1, 139] = 48.32, p