Leisure activities for the elderly-the influence of visual working memory on Mahjong and its video game version

Abstract

Mahjong is not only a traditional game for recreation but an important leisure activity for elderly people in Chinese society. In this study, 8 elderly people of age 65 in average are selected as testees, their visual senses are sufficiently capable to continuously play mahjong for more than 1 hour. In addition, the testees all have more than one year of experience in playing mahjong. Also, a self-developed working memory inspection system is used to detect the influences of the working memory corrective ratio of version for elderly people under 350 Lux, the mahjong play duration as the variable. The study also may serve as a reference in designing environmental illumination and the duration for elderly people while playing mahjong. © 2011 Springer-Verlag.