Age-related differences and similarities in dual-task interference.
Differences between younger adults (mean age, 20.7 years) and older adults (mean age, 72.7 years) in dual-task performance were examined in 7 experiments in which the overlap between 2 simple tasks was systematically varied. The results were better fit by a task-switching model in which age was assumed to produce generalized slowing than by a shared-capacity model in which age was assumed to reduce processing resources. The functional architecture of task processing appears the same in younger and older adults. There was no evidence for a specific impairment in the ability of older adults to manage simultaneous tasks. There was evidence for both input and output interference, which may be greater in older adults.
Hartley
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Department of Psychology, Scripps College, Columbia, Claremont, California 91711, USA. alan_hartley@scrippscol.edu
Little
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D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology* / Q000523:psychology*; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D003071:Cognition; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008606:Mental Processes / Q000502:physiology*; D008960:Models, Psychological; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology*; D011930:Reaction Time