Several studies have also examined

Several studies have also examined experience-based sparing in demanding professions. For example, Tsang and Shaner (1998; see also Tsang & Voss, 1996) investigated the ability of pilots and nonpilots of varying ages to perform a series of single and dual tasks. They found reduced age-related differences on some dual tasks for older pilots but not for nonpilots. However, experience-based mitigation of age-related differences was not found for single task performance. Such a pattern of age-related sparing is not unexpected given the need to frequently time-share and switch between tasks during piloting. Morrow and colleagues have found that older pilots perform similarly to younger pilots on a variety of air traffic communication tasks, particularly when the messages are contextually relevant, when the pilots are permitted to read the messages at their own pace, and when permitted to take notes (Morrow, Leirer, Altiere, & Fitzsimmons, 1994; Morrow, Wickens, Rantanen, Chang, & Marcus, 2008, see also Taylor, Kennedy, Noda, & Yesavage, 2007). Thus, older pilots capitalize on their wealth of domain relevant knowledge to compensate for age-related deficits in working memory.
Although such results are encouraging, these studies have historically investigated and subsequently found evidence of experience-based sparing of abilities that represent only a subset of those needed to succeed in the real world. However, operators managing complex sociotechnical systems must exercise a variety of skills and abilities to maintain optimal performance levels. For example, in aviation, pilots must exhibit sound flight control and navigation ability, in addition to being able to communicate with other pilots and controllers. Hence, observations of experience-based sparing in instances where only a small subset of desired abilities (e.g., communication) are held up to scrutiny (e.g., Morrow et al., 1994, 2003, 2004, 2006) limit the generalizability of such findings.
The need to extrapolate such findings to the real world is pressing. Consider the profession of air traffic control (ATC), which is experiencing severe staffing shortages on a global scale. For example, near misses between aircraft, caused as a result of staffing shortages across Russia, Australia, South Africa, and the United States, are getting close to becoming midair disasters, and in some cases airlines are being forced to choose between cancelling, delaying, or diverting flights, or having loaded jetliners flying through uncontrolled airspace (Baguley, 2008).
Such shortages have been exacerbated by the presence of decades-old mandatory retirement policies that have been established over concerns of age-related performance declines. In the United States, for example, controllers must retire by the age of 56, with numerous studies demonstrating age-related performance declines being cited as justification for enforcing such policies (e.g.,Heil, 1999a, 1999b; Mathews & Cobb, 1974; Trites & Cobb, 1962;VanDeventer & Baxter, 1984). However, these studies have been characterized by (a) reliance on subjective ratings (which can be biased against older adults; see Cobb, 1968) and (b) employment of tasks that often do not reflect operational constraints or afford skilled operators the ability to use strategies acquired over the years. Thus, it is perhaps unsurprising that previous investigations have found limited evidence of success among older adults in ATC.
Evidence of experience-based sparing in such a complex domain has far-reaching implications. Within the ATC context alone, concerns over projected severe controller staffing shortages could be addressed by affording older controllers the opportunity to stay on the job longer. More generally, it may be the case that evidence of experience-based mitigation in a domain such as ATC could provide an indication of the ameliorative benefits that expertise holds as a means of offsetting the detrimental effects of advancing age among operators managing other complex sociotechnical systems (e.g., medicine, construction, industrialized operations).
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Present Research
Our study employed older and younger professional air traffic controllers and age-matched noncontrollers who collectively performed a battery of cognitive tasks and simulated ATC tasks that varied in difficulty. The tasks in the cognitive task battery were selected to provide measures of both ATC domain-relevant abilities and less relevant measures of different aspects of cognition (see Wickens, Mavor, & McGee, 1997). Domain-relevant abilities included inhibitory control, task-switching ability, visuospatial ability, working memory, and breadth of attention. Less relevant abilities included processing speed and inductive reasoning. In addition to the cognitive battery, ATC tasks were administered to assess problem-solving ability under different levels of time pressure in a variety of different ATC scenarios. We predicted that, although high levels of experience would do little to ameliorate the detrimental effects of advancing age on cognitive abilities not directly related to ATC, experience would offset potential age-related decrements on those cognitive abilities that are more directly related to ATC as well as on the simulated ATC tasks themselves. More specifically, given the nature of the ATC task, we expected that the abilities of inhibitory or interference control, task switching, visuospatial processing, working memory, and breadth of attention may display some experience-related sparing of aging decrements. On the other hand, we did not expect processing speed or inductive reasoning to show experience-related sparing given that these abilities are less germane to the task of ATC.
In addition to enabling us to examine whether ATC experience influences age-related differences in basic cognitive abilities, the inclusion of the cognitive battery enabled us to address, in part, the “confound of nature” (Morrow, in press) that is inherent in most studies of Experience × Age interactions. That is, because experience tends to increase with age, there is a natural confound in most cross-sectional studies of age and experience (see Hoyer & Ingolfsdottir, 2003, for a rare exception). The cognitive battery enabled us to ask whether the older controllers would outperform the older noncontrollers on a wide variety of cognitive tasks or, as predicted, on only those tasks most closely related to the skills necessary for efficient ATC.
Given that air traffic controllers are generally retired by 56 years of age in the United States, we conducted our study in Canada where controllers can work until 65 years of age.
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Method
Participants
Thirty-six licensed ATC controllers and 36 noncontrollers served as participants, with 18 older and 18 younger adults per group. Older controllers (all men) were between the ages of 53 and