Holly E. Hancock

An Evaluation of Warning Habits and Beliefs across the Adult Life Span

Beliefs about warnings and habits associated with reading them were assessed for 863 individuals of various ages. Information gathered for various common household products included (a) how frequently people attend to warning information, (b) the degree of risk they believe is involved during product usage, and (c) how important they believe warnings are for different product types. Also assessed were perceived helpfulness and comprehension for symbols commonly found on product labels or on signs in the environment. Respondents 55 years and older reported reading product warnings more frequently than did younger adults, although they generally perceived warnings as less important. However, no overall age-related differences were found for perceived level of risk involved in using different product types. Although older adults generally perceived symbols to be very helpful when using a particular product, their comprehension levels were poorer than those of younger adults for half of the symbols. Overall, these data suggest that adults of all ages do read warnings on a variety of product types and that they believe warning information is important. This research illustrates the importance of including older adults in usability studies during the development of warning systems, given age-related effects may be associated with some aspects of the warning processing but not others.

Everyday Products: Easy to Use … or Not?:

More proof that human factors/ergonomics test and evaluation should be applied to even the simplest, most commonly used products.

Understanding Age-Related Differences in the Perception and Comprehension of Symbolic Warning Information

The older segment of the population is living longer and remaining active after retirement. Consequently, many older adults are continuing to use common household products that may be associated with potentially serious hazards. Warning information accompanying these products, particularly those warnings in symbolic format, may not effectively convey their intended messages if they are difficult to interpret. In this study, survey data regarding symbol recognition, perception, and comprehension were collected from 865 individuals ranging in age from 17 to 91. The data indicate that older adults poorly comprehend a number of different warning symbols, despite believing symbols to be very helpful when interpreting warning information on products. Furthermore, symbol comprehension was not related to symbol recognition in older adults, suggesting that poor comprehension by this age group cannot be explained simply by low recognition levels. This paper discusses symbol perception, recognition, and comprehension, focusing on the importance of understanding age-related issues when designing warning systems.

Comprehension of Explicit and Implicit Warning Information in Younger and Older Adults

Successful comprehension of warning text necessitates an ability to understand both explicitly stated safety information, as well as information about hazards and safe product usage that may be implied. Comprehension level for this type of text may vary across age groups as a function of normal age-related changes that may be experienced in memory and text comprehension in general. To date, there has been no comprehensive investigation of how well younger and older adults understand explicit and implicit information associated with actual product warnings. In the current study, 43 older and 42 younger adults read text from consumer product warnings and then rated the truth/falsity of statements containing information that was either explicitly stated or implied by the warnings. The results suggest both older and younger adults are able to recognize information that is explicitly associated with an actual product warning. However, they are less able to recognize information that can be inferred from warnings. These data also suggest that older adults perceive themselves to understand consumer warnings fairly well.

A medication screening tool for cognitive aging researchers.

A Web-based medication screening tool that provides researchers with information about side effects associated with medications commonly used by older participants is described. This tool can be used for research purposes to better separate the effects of normal, healthy aging processes from the deleterious effects often associated with medication usage. Researchers can use this tool, called SMART (Screening Medications: Aging Research Taxonomy), to (a) obtain information pertaining to the cognitive, sensory, and motor side effects associated with specific medications and (b) screen medications in their research for side effect severity. The Web address for the tool is www.psychology.gatech.edu/SMART

Age as a Predictor of Adequate Warning Design

Although hundreds of studies have been conducted in the separate fields of cognitive aging and warnings, little is known about the intersection of aging and warnings. In recent years, there has been a growth in interest regarding how age-related declines in cognitive functioning might affect different stages of the warning process. This paper discusses how chronological age may be used in warnings research as a means of determining whether warnings are processed effectively. Generalizations to other special subpopulations are made.