Recognition of asymmetric alterations to pictures of cats: effects of method of alteration and type of change in elderly subjects.
Recognition of environmental changes is essential in everyday life. In this study, recognition of animate objects by elderly people was examined with various methods (introduction, restoration) and types (addition, deletion) of change. For restoration, deletions and additions were produced by eliminating features from pictures and reintroducing the deleted features, respectively. In introduction, additions and deletions were produced by adding and deleting features from original pictures. 37 subjects (M age = 74 yr.) viewed each card for 10 sec. (learning phase) and were then asked (test phase) whether they had viewed the card in the learning phase and to rate their confidence in their answer. Percentage correct rejection and confidence ratings were higher for introductions compared to restorations and for deletions compared to additions. Findings are similar to those in young adults and children, which indicates developmental robustness of asymmetric effects in recognition of animate objects.
Ando
Michiyo
M
St. Mary's College, Kurume City, Fukuoka, Japan. andou@st-mary.ac.jp
Hakoda
Yuji
Y
Ogasawara
Eiko
E
Shiihara
Yasufumi
Y
Otsubo
Masaki
M
D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000523:psychology*; D000818:Animals; D001288:Attention; D002415:Cats; D004193:Discrimination Learning; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan; D008297:Male; D008570:Memory, Short-Term; D008875:Middle Aged; D009949:Orientation; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual