Cognitive Aging and the Processing of Hazard Information and Disaster Warnings

Older adults, aged 65+ , are a rapidly growing segment of the world population. To adequately inform all members of the public, hazard researchers and practitioners must be aware of the information processing capabilities and limitations of this increasingly large group. This paper illustrates how documented age-related normative changes in perception, attention, memory, text comprehension, and decision making can affect the processing of hazard information within the context of the Protective Action Decision Model. For the stages of the model that are heavily reliant on the information processing capabilities of the message recipient, current cognitive aging findings are reviewed and potential elder-friendly information design solutions are suggested for general hazard information and warnings.