138 PROCEEDINGS of the HUMAN FACTORS AND ERGONOMICS SOCIETY 40th ANNUAL MEETING-1996 AGING AND TECHNOLOGY: A DEVELOPMENTAL VIEW

Applications of technology to improve the living and working environment and medical care of aging and aged people define a newly developing discipline called gerontechnology. Both this field and the human factors applications to aging that are embedded in it require a developmental view of the relationship between a person and herhis environment. From a developmental viewpoint, technology can affect aging through prevention of chronic problems that limit mobility; enhancement of social activities, work, education and recreation, and compensation for impaired functioning. Integration of technology into the lives of aging persons reacquires a developmental approach to the design of products and environments, consumer involvement in design and significant changes in the infrastructure for technology development and dispersal. AGING AND ERGONOMIC THEORY Smith (1 990) identified two broad models that have guided conceptual developments relative to aging in human factors and ergonomics theory. The first is a decrimental model (Faletti, 1984; Lawton and Nahemow, 1973) that emphasizes age associated decline in human sensory, cognitive and mobility function. The role of ergonomics is to improve the match between the declining human capacities and environmental demands; task analysis is the main tool used in determining ho