Data-driven and memory-driven selective attention in visual search.
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1984-01
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The present experiment investigated Rabbitt's (1979) hypothesis that age differences in selective attention occur when memory-driven processing must be employed. Young and older adults performed a visual search task, which, on some trials, provided advance information (a cue) regarding the particular target letter most likely to appear in the display. The nature of the selectivity required by the cue was either data-driven (Condition 1) or memory-driven (Condition 2). Analyses of the benefit in search performance associated with the cued trials and of the cost in performance resulting from the presentation of misleading advance information yielded limited support for Rabbitt's hypothesis. The older adults, but not the young, did exhibit a smaller cuing benefit in Condition 2 than in Condition 1. Both age groups, however, demonstrated substantial benefits and costs within each condition. Age differences in selective attention are thus not determined completely by the requirement to use memory-driven processing.
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Madden, DJ (1984). Data-driven and memory-driven selective attention in visual search. Journal of gerontology, 39(1). pp. 72–78. 10.1093/geronj/39.1.72 Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/22553.
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David Joseph Madden
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 more general effects arising from a slowing in elementary perceptual processes. The cognitive abilities of interest include selective attention as measured in visual search tasks, semantic and episodic memory retrieval, and executive control processes.
The behavioral measures are necessary to define the cognitive abilities of interest, and the neuroimaging techniques help define the functional neuroanatomy of those abilities. The PET and fMRI measures provide information regarding neural activity during cognitive performance. DTI is a recently developed technique that images the structural integrity of white matter. The white matter tracts of the brain provide critical pathways linking the gray matter regions, and thus this work will complement the studies using PET and fMRI that focus on gray matter activation.
A current focus of the research program is the functional connectivity among regions, not only during cognitive task performance but also during rest. These latter measures, referred to as intrinsic functional connectivity, are beginning to show promise as an index of overall brain functional efficiency, which can be assessed without the implementation of a specific cognitive task. From DTI, information can be obtained regarding how anatomical connectivity constrains intrinsic functional connectivity. It will be important to determine the relative influence of white matter pathway integrity, intrinsic functional connectivity, and task-related functional connectivity, as mediators of age-related differences in behavioral measures of cognitive performance.
Ultimately, the research program can help link age-related changes in cognitive performance to changes in the structure and function of specific neural systems. The results also have implications for clinical translation, in terms of the identification of neural biomarkers for the diagnosis of neural pathology and targeting rehabilitation procedures.
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