Age-related preservation of top-down attentional guidance during visual search.
Younger (19-27 years of age) and older (60-82 years of age) adults performed a letter search task in which a color singleton was either noninformative (baseline condition) or highly informative (guided condition) regarding target location. In the guided condition, both age groups exhibited a substantial decrease in response time (RT) to singleton targets, relative to the baseline condition, as well as an increase in RT to nonsingleton targets. The authors conclude that under conditions that equate the physical structure of individual displays, top-down attentional guidance can be at least as effective for older adults as for younger adults.
Madden
David J
DJ
Center for the Study of Aging and Human Development, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, USA. djm@geri.duke.edu
Whiting
Wythe L
WL
Cabeza
Roberto
R
Huettel
Scott A
SA
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D001288:Attention; D003463:Cues; D005106:Exploratory Behavior; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011897:Random Allocation; D011930:Reaction Time; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014796:Visual Perception