title: Executive attentional resources in timing: Effects of inhibitory control and cognitive aging.
abstract: This research is based on an executive resource theory of timing, which postulates that time perception relies on specialized attentional resources that support executive cognitive functions. In 4 experiments, older and younger participants performed a timing task and an executive task emphasizing inhibitory control under both single-task and dual-task conditions. The timing task in each experiment was serial temporal production. The executive tasks, representing different types of inhibitory control, were the flanker task (Experiment 1), the number-letter task (Experiment 2), the go/no-go task (Experiment 3), and the antisaccade task (Experiment 4). The results showed (a) a pattern of bidirectional interference in each experiment, in that the concurrent inhibition tasks interfered with timing performance and concurrent timing interfered with inhibition performance, (b) the older participants demonstrated a stronger bidirectional interference effect relative to younger participants in 3 experiments, and (c) weaker versions of the inhibition tasks produced weaker interference effects. These findings support the idea that temporal processing relies on executive attentional resources.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology.
authors.forename: Scott W
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Brown
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology.
authors.forename: Tammy M
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Johnson
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology.
authors.forename: Mary E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Sohl
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology.
authors.forename: Meghan K
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Dumas
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology*; D000066492:Cognitive Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D056344:Executive Function / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007266:Inhibition, Psychological; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D013998:Time Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult