OLDER ADULTS CAPITALIZE ON CONTEXTUAL INFORMATION TO GUIDE SEARCH

    Authors

    M. B. Neider;A. F. Kramer

    Comments

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    Abbreviated Journal Title

    Exp. Aging Res.

    Keywords

    REAL-WORLD SCENES; VISUAL-SEARCH; AGE-DIFFERENCES; EYE-MOVEMENTS; CONJUNCTION SEARCH; ATTENTION; MEMORY; GUIDANCE; RECOGNITION; OBJECT; Geriatrics & Gerontology; Psychology

    Abstract

    Much has been learned about the age-related cognitive declines associated with the attentional processes that utilize perceptual features during visual search. However, questions remain regarding the ability of older adults to use scene information to guide search processes, perhaps as a compensatory mechanism for declines in perceptual processes. The authors had younger and older adults search pseudorealistic scenes for targets with strong or no spatial associations. Both younger and older adults exhibited reaction time benefits when searching for a target that was associated with a specific scene region. Eye movement analyses revealed that all observers dedicated most of their time to scanning target-consistent display regions and that guidance to these regions was often evident on the initial saccade of a trial. Both the benefits and costs related to contextual information were larger for older adults, suggesting that this information was relied on heavily to guide search processes towards the target.

    Journal Title

    Experimental Aging Research

    Volume

    37

    Issue/Number

    5

    Publication Date

    1-1-2011

    Document Type

    Article

    Language

    English

    First Page

    539

    Last Page

    571

    WOS Identifier

    WOS:000297583900004

    ISSN

    0361-073X

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