Aging is associated with mobility and lifestyle changes that can lead to social isolation. Modern technology may help older adults remain socially connected, but poorer knowledge and access lead to a “grey digital divide.” In the current NSF-funded study, we investigated social factors that impact older adults’ reported use of and intentions to use technology. We administered surveys to older adults (aged 55+) enrolled in technology-related classes and retained 71 surveys for subsequent analyses. An exploratory factor analysis on questions related to social engagement and isolation revealed three factors: 1) existing social engagement, 2) perceived social value, and 3) perceived isolation. A multivariate analysis revealed that none of these factors explained significant variance in current use of technology tools or applications. However, perceived isolation and social value accounted for significant variance in intention to use technology. Discovering how to translate intention into action will be critical to combat social isolation.

In the first online survey, we asked about experiences with ChatGPT. Our preliminary results (sample mean age 71.2; data collection ongoing) show that 58% have used ChatGPT and 81% would like to learn more. Their challenges included data security concerns, lack of efficient prompts and uncertainty about benefits. In the second online survey, we examined how avatar instructors in e-learning videos are perceived. A total of 146 adults (mean age 69.6) were randomly assigned to an experimental vs. control condition. Control group watched an e-learning video with a human instructor, whereas the experimental group viewed the same content taught by an avatar. The two groups achieved the same quiz score. The human instructor was rated only slightly higher than the avatar in terms of gestures, sympathy, authenticity, and trustworthiness. Both instructors were perceived as similarly competent. Results are discussed in line with the importance and digital transformation of lifelong learning.

Older adults show deficits in both episodic and source memory; cognitive offloading can circumvent memory limitations and may therefore be particularly useful for older adults. However, the extent to which offloading can benefit source memory is not yet known. Young and older adults studied health-related facts presented by one of two sources (doctor or newspaper); in one block, participants relied on internal memory and in the other block participants could offload. Overall, offloading benefited recall and recognition performance, and young adults outperformed older adults for correct recall and false alarms. With respect to source recognition, main effects of age (young > old), offloading condition (offloading > internal memory), and source (doctor > newspaper) were observed. Moreover, young adults’ source memory benefited more from offloading than older adults’. Findings suggest that the benefits of cognitive offloading extend to source memory, but cognitive offloading did not offset age-related source memory degradation.