Centre for Policy on Ageing



Age-related changes in the control of attention in depth
Author(s)	Paul Atchley, Arthur F Kramer
Journal title	Psychology and Aging, vol 15, no 1, March 2000
Pages	pp 78-87
Keywords	Cognitive processes ; Mental speed ; Age groups [elderly] ; Young adults [20-25] ; United States of America.
Annotation	In two experiments, the authors examined the control of spatial attention in depth in advanced age. Observers viewed two sets of lines that overlapped in two-dimensional (2-D) space, but that were presented at different depth locations. An exogenous cue indicated the depth at which a coloured target line would appear. On some trials, a distracting coloured element was also presented. The luminance of this distractor varied from high to low. For both older and younger adults, distractors slowed reaction time less if they were at a different depth from the target. The effect was more robust for older people with low-luminance distractors, indicating an important role for target features as well as attentional control. Adding another feature (i.e. colour) that distinguished between target and distractor reduced the effects of slowing shown by the older observers and eliminated the cost of low-luminance distractors for all observers. The results suggest that attentional control in depth is maintained in ageing. (RH).
Accession Number	CPA-000613408 A
Classmark	DA: DG: BB: SD6: 7T
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...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing.