Attention and Aging – Lecture 5PS277

General Information Processing Model

Types of Attention Tasks, Aging and Performance

Theories of Aging and Attention

Driving as Everyday Application

Older Drivers and Attentional Capacities

My parents (mid-70’s) and driving issues

Reaction times, confusion, etc.

capacity to attend to various aspects of visual field

The Importance of Careful Attention – The Far Side Version

A Schematic of Classic Information Processing Model (Atkinson & Shiffrin’s Multi-Store Model)

Types of Attention and Example Tasks that Measure These Types

Sustained Attention/Attention Span over time – (e.g., Air traffic controllers)

Selective Attention and Search (e.g., Stroop Task)

Divided Attention and Dual Task Performance (e.g., driving while on the cell phone, texting in lectures?)

Sustained Attention – Vigilance Measures

Attention span - monitoring for events over time – air traffic controllers, etc.

Bunce et al. (1996) – postal workers, keeping

track of degraded computer display of digits over 10 minutes

Older participants (55-65) who were in better CV health did better than those in poorer health

Overall, findings for these tasks suggest little change with age, except under very difficult processing conditions – older adults are more cautious and slower to respond

Selective Attention – DO Stroop Task

Red Green Black Orange White Yellow Pink Gray Purple

Selective Attention and Search

Visual search tasks – like detecting a specific target in visual field when occurs in a set of distractors

Aging differences are magnified if distractors are complex, and if location of target is unpredictable

Inhibitory processing – some evidence that older adults may have more trouble ignoring irrelevant information presented in same modality, but not in different modality (studying and listening to music)

No clear evidence for things like “mind-wandering” being worse with age, however. If you ask people at random times to recall a word list they are learning = inhibition is not that big a problem

Dual Attention Tasks and Research

Lindenberger et al. (2000) – memorizing while you walk. Old don’t do as well as young:24, 45, 65

Had to walk a track (oval vs. aperiodic) while memorizing lists of 16 words using method of loci

Middle-aged and older people did worse than young on each task in terms of time and skill, accuracy was worst on walking for oldest adults

Walking takes more conscious effort and resources for old–crossing busy street while chatting

High levels of training and compensatory aids helped

Research Results for Walking and Memorizing

Top: dual-task costs in walking speed as function of age and track

Bottom: dual-task costs in recall score as function of age and track

Implications of Age and Dual Task Performance

Cell phone ban and driving – what think?

Talking on cell phone and crossing King St.

What about “blue tooth” technology use for older drivers?

Age vs. generation vs. other factors, training?? – how can study this?

Extensive training can change dual task situation – reading while taking dictation!

Theories of Aging and Attention

Processing Speed and Age

Attentional Resources Model

Neural Noise Model

Change in Processing Speed - Kail

Information Processing Rates over Lifespan – Cerella & Hale (1994)

Speed of Processing and Attention

Limited capacity bottlenecks in early parts of processing system mean need to transfer information quickly

If older adults are slower, this may affect efficiency of attention processes in general

Such changes don’t necessarily mean decline in overall performance - SOC model of Baltes

Salthouse showed that rates of typing (words/minute) are maintained even though older typists are slower at basic processes like tapping speed, because show longer attentional spans forward in their looking = example of direct attentional compensation for speed losses

Attentional Resources Models

Notions of effort or capacity that are distinguishable from speed issues

Widely studied in dual-tasks – e.g. automatization in driving frees up capacity for other things

Limited capacity in conscious attention might decline with age = loss of processing resources, OR more resources used in later life for daily living activities, might be less automatic

Walking while memorizing study suggests how automaticity might be more of issue for physical function in later life – e.g., depth perception

Neural Noise Models

Attempt to relate declines in attention and cognition to brain function more directly

As we age, there is more “noise” and less clear signals in nervous system with regard to information representation – loss of dendrites, etc.

Age-related changes in sensory function, perceptual speed, attention might derive from a general decline in CNS function (e.g., the relations of perceptual functions to overall intelligence in later life of Baltes & Lindenberger)

This is largely speculative at present however

Applications of Attention Research to Driving

Older adults show higher rates of accidents per mile driven (though not higher rates overall)

Useful Field of Vision test (UFOV) shows capacity to divide attention between central and peripheral fields of vision and search effectively in each

Predicts well to accident rates and poor driving tests

Change detection also is an important problem – seeing something new and different – requires both attentional scanning + memory comparisons

Worst of all, cell phone use by older drivers led to poorer detection of critical info like pedestrians in cross walk during turns!

Practical Issues with Regard to Aging and Driving

How should we deal with evidence that older drivers are more at risk for certain types of accidents?

Should licensing procedures be different for older drivers? How?

Training procedures?