Strategies to Improve Visual Feature Binding in Younger and Older Adults

ABSTRACT

Research has shown that drawing, tracing, and describing are beneficial strategies for improving object recognition. It is unclear whether these strategies also benefit object feature binding and how their benefits may vary with age. In these experiments, participants learned object images through either drawing a copy, writing a description, tracing, or simply viewing. Subsequently, participants had a recognition test and a test of object feature binding (indicating object location and color). This was conducted with younger adults and older adults. For the younger adults, drawing and describing were the best strategies for both object recognition and feature binding. For the older adults, drawing and describing were the best strategies for object recognition, while viewing and describing were best for feature binding. For both groups, tracing was not beneficial for feature binding. Overall, these results show that the optimal learning strategy depends on the test type and the learner population.