title: Age-related differences in localized attentional interference.
abstract: Attentional selection of an object in the visual field degrades processing of neighboring stimuli in young adults. A pair of experiments examined the effects of aging on such localized attentional interference. In Experiment 1, younger and older observers made speeded same-different judgments of target shapes that varied in spatial separation. Performance declined for both age groups as the distance between targets decreased, but an Age x Distance interaction indicated that the magnitude of this effect was larger for older adults. Experiment 2 ruled out sensory masking as an explanation for these findings. Results indicate that older observers experience losses in the ability to attend to multiple spatially proximal stimuli within the visual field.
authors.affiliation: Beckman Institute, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL, US. jmccarley@psychology.msstate.edu
authors.forename: Jason S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: McCarley
authors.forename: Jeffrey R W
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Mounts
authors.forename: Arthur F
authors.initials: AF
authors.lastname: Kramer
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D001288:Attention; D005133:Eye Movements; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011930:Reaction Time