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Eighty typists ranging in age from 21-71 years and in skill from 24-110 net words per minute participated in 2 experiments examining age-related differences in the motoric aspects of transcription typing skill. Age- and skill-related differences were examined for 2 simplified typing tasks: letter reaction time, which assessed latency to type a single keystroke, and digraph typing, which assessed the latencies to type 2 consecutive keystrokes. A finger tapping and choice reaction time task were also included. The results indicated that low-skill, older typists exhibited a deficit in both the translation and the execution components of motor performance, whereas high-skill, older typists exhibited a deficit in translation only. An additional task that manipulated preview of the text to be typed replicated the findings of Salthouse (1984), suggesting that older typists compensate for age-related slowing by beginning keystroke preparation sooner.

Novice (Experiment 1) and experienced (Experiment 2) young, middle-aged, and older adults learned a new word-processing application in keystrokes, menus, or menus-plus-icons interface conditions. Novices showed strong age differences in the time to complete the 3-day tutorial and in declarative and procedural tests of word-processing knowledge. Menus and menus-plus-icons were superior to keystrokes condition. though interface did not interact with age. Experienced users showed age-related slowing in learning rate but minimal age differences in test performance when retrained on a new word-processing program. Age and computer experience accounted for much of the variance in both learning time and word-processing performance; interface type, speed of processing, and spatial generation ability made additional contributions. Experience interacted with age to predict performance. Implications for training and retraining older workers are discussed.

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