Assessing spatial attention in healthy younger and older adults.
Item
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Title
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Assessing spatial attention in healthy younger and older adults.
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Identifier
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AAI3232006
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identifier
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3232006
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Creator
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LoBosco, Jacqueline J.
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Contributor
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Adviser: Nancy S. Foldi
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Date
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2006
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Psychology, Cognitive | Psychology, Developmental
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Abstract
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Background. This study explored late life effects on attention. We assessed attentional capacity in a simple reaction time task (SRT), emphasizing the psychological refractory period (PRP), and covert orienting in two endogenous detection tasks, a traditional symbolic (symbolic COVAT) and a 'semantic' orienting task (semantic COVAT). Method. Healthy participants (young, 20-39 yrs; mid-old, 60-79 yrs; old-old, > 80 yrs) were tested. The SRT was administered pre- and post other computer tasks to assess fatigue or practice effects (session: two levels), and presented targets at varied stimulus onset asynchronies (SOA: four levels); PRP was expected after the shortest SOA. The endogenous orienting tasks measured validity effects (invalid RT--valid RT), RT costs (invalid RT--neutral RT), and RT benefits (neutral RT--valid RT) with centrally presented valid, neutral, or invalid cues: arrows in the symbolic COVAT, and names of animate and inanimate items in the semantic COVAT. Performance on cognitive domains scores of speed, standard attention, memory, visuospatial, and executive functioning were used as correlates. Results. All tasks revealed faster overall speed in the young group than older groups, with no differences between mid-old and old-old groups. PRP effect was enhanced in the old-old group on repeated administration. Correlations demonstrated that the young and mid-old group used different strategies (Attention R=-.69 and Speed R=-.66, respectively) to respond at equivalent rates. When they used similar strategies (Speed R=-.653 & -.841), the mid-old group performed at a significantly slower rate. On symbolic orienting, the oldest group's significant validity effect, F(3,122)=3.07, p=.02, was due to greater benefits (p=.03) not costs (p=.37). The validity effect was not significant in the semantic COVAT. Conclusions. Load and fatigue tax late-life attentional capacity, highlighted by enhanced PRP on the SRT. The mid-old group drew on attentional resources to match the speed of young on the SRT. Covert orienting findings of the oldest group showed that they may treat neutral like invalid cues, and/or rely preferentially on valid, predictive cues. Semantic categories did not guide spatial attention.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.
