Centre for Policy on Ageing



The enhanced effects of pictorial distraction in older adults
Author(s)	Lixia Yang, Lynn Hasher
Journal title	Journals of Gerontology: Series B, Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, vol 62B, no 4, July 2007
Pages	pp P230-P233
Source	http://www.geron.org
Keywords	Cognitive processes ; Memory and Reminiscence ; Performance ; Age groups [elderly] ; Young adults [20-25] ; Comparison ; Canada.
Annotation	Using a word-picture paradigm, the authors investigated age differences in distraction from to-be-ignored pictures with 45 older people (age 60-88)) and 47 undergraduates (age 17-28) in Toronto, Canada. On each trial, participants viewed a prime word that was superimposed on an irrelevant picture, followed by a test word. The task was to determine whether the picture and test words were semantically related. The pictures were either congruent or incongruent with the response. On control trials, pictures were neutral with respect to the response. Consistent with an age-related reduction in distraction regulation, the results demonstrate an enhanced pictorial distraction effect for older people, even after age-related general slowing was controlled for. Older people also tended to take longer to suppress distraction from picture labels than did young adults. (RH).
Accession Number	CPA-080305216 A
Classmark	DA: DB: 5H: BB: SD6: 48: 7S
Data © Centre for Policy on Ageing

...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing.