Adult age differences in shifting focused attention.
Young and older adults performed a choice response task in which 1 of 2 target letters was presented visually at 1 of 4 display locations. In 2 experiments, the validity of a target location cue and the presence of nontarget characters (distractors) were varied. With target-only displays and 40% cue validity (Experiment 1), the estimated time to shift attention between display locations was essentially 0 ms for both age groups. With 70% cue validity, Experiment 2 demonstrated significant increases in the attention shift time as a function of both increased age and the presence of distractors (asterisks). The results suggest that age-related changes in the shifting of focused attention are minimal except when the processing of nontarget information is required.
Madden
D J
DJ
Center for the Study of Aging and Human Development, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina 27710.
Connelly
S L
SL
Pierce
T W
TW
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000523:psychology*; D001288:Attention; D002755:Choice Behavior; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011597:Psychomotor Performance; D011930:Reaction Time