Browsing by Author "Leber, Andrew B"

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    Age-related preservation of top-down control over distraction in visual search.
    (Experimental aging research, 2010-07) Costello, Matthew C; Madden, David J; Shepler, Anne M; Mitroff, Stephen R; Leber, Andrew B
    Visual search studies have demonstrated that older adults can have preserved or even increased top-down control over distraction. However, the results are mixed as to the extent of this age-related preservation. The present experiment assesses group differences in younger and older adults during visual search, with a task featuring two conditions offering varying degrees of top-down control over distraction. After controlling for generalized slowing, the analyses revealed that the age groups were equally capable of utilizing top-down control to minimize distraction. Furthermore, for both age groups, the distraction effect was manifested in a sustained manner across the reaction time distribution.