Reference : Cognitive Ability and Internet Use Among Older Adults
Scientific journals : Article
Social & behavioral sciences, psychology : Sociology & social sciences
Educational Sciences
http://hdl.handle.net/10993/37102
Cognitive Ability and Internet Use Among Older Adults
English
Freese, Jeremy mailto []
Rivas, Salvador mailto [University of Luxembourg > Faculty of Language and Literature, Humanities, Arts and Education (FLSHASE) > Luxembourg Centre for Educational Testing (LUCET) >]
Hargittai, Eszter mailto [Universität Zürich - UZH > Department of Communication and Media Research - Internet Use & Society]
Oct-2006
Poetics
Elsevier
34
4-5
The digital divide in the twenty-first century
236-249
Yes
International
0304-422X
Netherlands
[en] Internet use ; Older adults ; Cognitive ability
[en] While previous work has found cognitive ability to be strongly associated with whether older adults use the Internet, we consider whether cognitive ability also differentiates basic aspects of use. Four measures of use are considered: having high-speed access, length of time since initial household adoption, self-reported time using the Internet, and whether any of the respondent's Internet use involves the Web in addition to e-mail. In all cases, we find associations with cognitive ability, although effects are sometimes mediated to nonsignificance by subsequent attainments, especially education. Given how central social support is to discussions of older adults navigating the Internet, we look also at reports of the availability of such support, and we find that cognition is positively related to respondents having someone available to help them with Internet problems. Taken together, our results suggest strongly that the already cognitively advantaged are much better positioned to reap the potential benefits of online tools to help older adults navigate social benefits and make complicated decisions.
http://hdl.handle.net/10993/37102
10.1016/j.poetic.2006.05.008

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