Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32535699›Full record

SynthesisPsychological research2021

Age differences in diffusion model parameters: a meta-analysis.

Maximilian Theisen, Veronika Lerche, Mischa von Krause, Andreas Voss

Erratum issuedAbstract readMeta-Analysis
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Psychological research, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 31 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
31citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

31 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
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  4. Neural Compensation in the Medial Prefrontal Cortex Preserves Self-Prioritization in Aging: A Computational Approach.The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience · 2026
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

Maximilian TheisenPsychologisches Institut, Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg, Hauptstrasse 47-51, 69117, Heidelberg, Germany. maximilian.theisen@psychologie.uni-heidelberg.de.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1596-805X
Veronika LerchePsychologisches Institut, Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg, Hauptstrasse 47-51, 69117, Heidelberg, Germany.
Mischa von KrausePsychologisches Institut, Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg, Hauptstrasse 47-51, 69117, Heidelberg, Germany.
Andreas VossPsychologisches Institut, Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg, Hauptstrasse 47-51, 69117, Heidelberg, Germany.

Funding

Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft GRK 2277Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft VO1288/2-2
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Older adults typically show slower response times in basic cognitive tasks than younger adults. A diffusion model analysis allows the clarification of why older adults react more slowly by estimating parameters that map distinct cognitive components of decision making. The main components of the diffusion model are the speed of information uptake (drift rate), the degree of conservatism regarding the decision criterion (boundary separation), and the time taken up by non-decisional processes (i.e., encoding and motoric response execution; non-decision time). While the literature shows consistent results regarding higher boundary separation and longer non-decision time for older adults, results are more complex when it comes to age differences in drift rates. We conducted a multi-level meta-analysis to identify possible sources of this variance. As possible moderators, we included task difficulty and task type. We found that age differences in drift rate are moderated both by task type and task difficulty. Older adults were inferior in drift rate in perceptual and memory tasks, but information accumulation was even increased in lexical decision tasks for the older participants. Additionally, in perceptual and lexical decision tasks, older individuals benefitted from high task difficulty. In the memory tasks, task difficulty did not moderate the negative impact of age on drift. The finding of higher boundary separation and longer non-decision time in older than younger adults generalized over task type and task difficulty. The results of our meta-analysis are consistent with recent findings of a more pronounced age-related decline in memory than in vocabulary performance.

Indexed as

AgingReaction TimeVocabularyAgedCognitionDecision MakingHumansMemory DisordersModels, PsychologicalYoung Adult

Identifiers

PMID32535699
PMCPMC8289776

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.