title: Increased attentional focus modulates eye movements in a mixed antisaccade task for younger and older adults.
abstract: We examined performance in the antisaccade task for younger and older adults by comparing latencies and errors in what we defined as high attentional focus (mixed antisaccades and prosaccades in the same block) and low attentional focus (antisaccades and prosaccades in separate blocks) conditions. Shorter saccade latencies for correctly executed eye movements were observed for both groups in mixed, compared to blocked, antisaccade tasks, but antisaccade error rates were higher for older participants across both conditions. The results are discussed in relation to the inhibitory hypothesis, the goal neglect theory and attentional control theory.
authors.affiliation: Academy of Psychology and Behaviour, Tianjin Normal University, Tianjin, China.
authors.forename: Jingxin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Tian
authors.forename: Rong
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Valerie
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Benson
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007837:Latency Period, Psychological; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012438:Saccades / Q000502:physiology*; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis; D055815:Young Adult