Older Adults' Strategic Behavior: Effects of Individual Versus Collaborative Cognitive Training

Abstract

Changes in strategic behavior were examined in older married couples participating in a cognitive intervention study. Participants were randomly assigned to: Questionnaire Control, Individual Training, or Collaborative Training. Trained participants completed inductive reasoning training sessions at home individually or as a couple. Participants were assessed at baseline, immediately following training, and a 3-month posttest. Overall, greater strategy use was related to higher ability performance across all groups. Collaborative and individual training groups showed a similar magnitude of strategy use at both posttests in terms of individual performance. Maintenance of strategy use on a collaborative task favored the collaborative group.