Aging and distraction by highly familiar stimuli during visual search
Abstract
P. Rabbitt's (1965, 1968) theory regarding age-related changes in cognition proposes
that aging is accompanied by a decreased ability to ignore irrelevant information
(perceptual noise). The present experiment examined age differences in the extent
to which highly familiar stimuli used as perceptual noise could disrupt visual search
performance. On Days 1-4, 10 Ss aged 19-27 yrs and 10 Ss aged 63-77 yrs performed
a search task with specific, unchanging sets of target and nontarget stimuli (letters).
Performance on a subsequent search task (Day 5) was disrupted when these familiar
stimuli appeared as noise items in the displays, as compared with trials on which
only new, unpracticed stimuli were used. The magnitude of the distraction associated
with the familiar stimuli on Day 5 was equivalent for the 2 age groups. However, age
differences in Day 5 search performance increased as more items in the simulus display
required inspection. Age differences were thus influenced more by the requirement
to attend to relevant information than by distraction from irrelevant information.
(23 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved). © 1983 American
Psychological Association.
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https://hdl.handle.net/10161/22552Published Version (Please cite this version)
10.1037/0012-1649.19.4.499Publication Info
Madden, DJ (1983). Aging and distraction by highly familiar stimuli during visual search. Developmental Psychology, 19(4). pp. 499-507. 10.1037/0012-1649.19.4.499. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/22552.This is constructed from limited available data and may be imprecise. To cite this
article, please review & use the official citation provided by the journal.
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Show full item recordScholars@Duke
David Joseph Madden
Professor in Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
My research focuses primarily on the cognitive neuroscience of aging: the investigation
of age-related changes in perception, attention, and memory, using both behavioral
measures and neuroimaging techniques, including positron emission tomography (PET),
functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI).
The behavioral measures have focused on reaction time, with the goal of distinguishing
age-related changes in specific cognitive abilities from mo

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