Ageing and word processing competence: Compensation or compilation?

Composition and compilation were examined as two alternative hypotheses relating to ‘cognitive competence’ in older adults. Techniques of molar equivalence–molecular decomposition (ME–MD) and molecular equivalence–molar analysis (ME–MA) were used to investigate performance of experienced (over 100 hours) younger (18–30 years) and older (45–66 years) adults on a word processing task, requiring insertion and deletion of words from passages of text. There was some indication that typing skill may form the basis of a compensatory mechanism. However, differences between ‘good’ and ‘poor’ performers in the older sample supported the position that high levels of complex task skill in older adults are associated with the possession (possibly through maintenance) of high levels of basic cognitive capacities, and are not related to the integration of molecular task components.