Abstract
Accessing Internet accounts can provide convenient services to users, regardless of age. However, these online services typically require that users enter a username and password. Forgetting one’s password, then, often results in the inconvenience of having to reset your password. Although there has been research on the memorability of passwords, this research often focuses on younger adults. Little research has taken older adults into consideration when designing password requirements. Older adults show cognitive decline in memory, which can make the task of remembering passwords especially difficult. However, older adults experience less difficulty in memory for familiar pictures, making the use of pictures an ideal candidate for cuing passwords. Participants in this study were asked to generate passwords for five different fictitious online accounts using a text-based or image-based mnemonic technique. Older adults were less likely to forget passwords that were generated using image-based mnemonic technique compared to the text-based one, implying that pictures can be used as cues for password recall for older adults.
Chapter PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Keywords
These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
References
Renaud, K., Ramsay, J.: Now what was that password again? A more flexible way of identifying and authenticating our seniors. Behaviour and Information Technology 26, 309–322 (2007)
Nelson, D., Vu, K.P.L.: Effectiveness of image-based mnemonic techniques for enhancing the memorability and security of user-generated passwords. Computers in Human Behavior, 1–11 (2010)
Renaud, K., De Angeli, A.: My password is here! An investigation into visuo-spatial authentication mechanisms. Interacting with Computers 16, 1017–1041 (2004)
Brown, A.S., Bracken, E., Zoccoli, S., Douglas, K.: Generating and remembering passwords. Applied Cognitive Psychology 18, 641–651 (2004)
Gehringer, E.F.: Choosing passwords: Security and human factors. Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Department of Computer Science, North Carolina State University, pp. 369–373 (2002)
Luo, L., Craik, F.I.M.: Age differences in recollection: specificity effects at retrieval. Journal of Memory and Language 60, 421–436 (2009)
Wagner, N.L., Hassanein, K., Head, M.M.: Computer use by older adults: A multi-disciplinary review. Computers in Human Behavior 26, 870–882 (2010)
Gatto, S.L., Tak, S.H.: Computer, internet, and e-mail use among older adults: Benefits and barriers. Educational Gerontology 34, 800–811 (2008)
Zickuhr, K., Madden, M.: Older adults and internet use: For the first time, half of adults ages 65 and older are online. Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project Report (2012), http://pewinternet.org/Reports/2012/Older-adults-and-internet-use.aspx
Vu, K.P.L., Proctor, R.W., Bhargav-Spanzel, A., Tai, B.-L., Cook, J., Schultz, E.E.: Improving password security and memorability to protect personal and organizational information. International Journal of Human-Computer Studies 65, 744–757 (2007)
Roediger, H.L.: The effectiveness of four mnemonics in ordering recall. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Learning and Memory 6, 558–567 (1980)
Renaud, K., De Angeli, A.: Visual passwords: Cure-all or snake-oil? Communications of the ACM 52, 135–140 (2009)
Bailey, H., Dunlosky, J., Hertzog, C.: Does differential strategy use account for age-related deficits in working-memory performance? Psychology and Aging 24, 82–92 (2009)
Hertzog, C., Dixon, R.A., Hultsch, D.F., MacDonald, W.S.: Latent change models of adult cognition: Are changes in processing speed and working memory associated with changes in episodic memory? Psychology and Aging 18, 755–769 (2003)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2013 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this paper
Cite this paper
Vu, KP.L., Hills, M.M. (2013). The Influence of Password Restrictions and Mnemonics on the Memory for Passwords of Older Adults. In: Yamamoto, S. (eds) Human Interface and the Management of Information. Information and Interaction Design. HIMI 2013. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 8016. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-39209-2_74
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-39209-2_74
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-642-39208-5
Online ISBN: 978-3-642-39209-2
eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)