scholarly journals Predictability of salient distractor increases top-down control in healthy younger and older adults

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marleen Haupt ◽  
Natan Napiórkowski ◽  
Christian Sorg ◽  
Hermann J. Müller ◽  
Kathrin Finke
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Attentional Capture ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Abrupt Onset ◽  
Partial Report ◽  
Spatial Cues ◽  
Top Down ◽  
Distractor Location ◽  
Younger Adults ◽  
Bottom Up

AbstractYounger adults are able to shield attentional selection against distractors when they have preknowledge about the upcoming distractor location. For older adults, who suffer from an overall decrease in attentional capacity and who are, in addition, particularly prone to attentional capture, such an adaptive shielding ability would be of particular importance. However, it is an open question whether healthy older adults can utilise the predictability of distractor locations to improve top-down controlled selection to the same degree as younger adults. The theory of visual attention (TVA) framework provides a systematic way to measure an individual’s efficiency of top-down control. The present study combined a TVA-based partial-report paradigm with abrupt-onset cues rendering the indicated location highly salient in a bottom-up fashion. Experiment 1, in which (on cued trials) the cue was invariably followed by a distractor at the cued location, showed that the cueing increased the weight of the distractor in the competition for selection compared to uncued distractors (on trials without a cue). In Experiment 2, the probability with which the abrupt-onset cue indicated the upcoming distractor location (1/3 vs. 2/3 of trials) was manipulated between experimental blocks. Participants were able to learn these statistical contingencies and exert top-down control more efficiently in blocks with highly valid distractor location cues, as compared to low-validity blocks. This finding suggests that, even though abrupt-onset spatial cues increase the attentional weights of distractors, participants can acquire and use pre-knowledge about the likelihood that a distractor will appear at an indicated location to down-weight the bottom-up attentional-capture signal. This ability turned out to be comparable across age groups, suggesting that efficient use of predictive information to shield against distracting information is preserved in normal ageing.

scholarly journals Older Adults' Use of Retrieval Strategies in Everyday Life

Gerontology ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 62 (6) ◽  
pp. 624-635 ◽  
Author(s):  
David J. Frank ◽  
Megan L. Jordano ◽  
Kelly Browne ◽  
Dayna R. Touron
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Everyday Life ◽  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Specific Activity ◽  
Top Down ◽  
Younger Adults ◽  
Bottom Up ◽  
Retrieval Strategies ◽  
Algorithmic Strategy ◽  
Memory Confidence

Background: Despite declines in cognitive abilities, older adults often perform comparable to younger adults in everyday tasks [J Am Geriatr Soc 1999;47:172-183]. Older adults may compensate for cognitive declines by using more efficient strategies. People often improve their efficiency by switching from an algorithmic strategy where information is computed or looked-up, to a strategy where the information is retrieved directly from memory [J Exp Psychol Gen 1988;117:258-275]. However, older adults are reluctant to shift from algorithmic strategies to retrieval strategies in the laboratory, and this reluctance to use retrieval is driven by both bottom-up (slower learning) and top-down influences (memory confidence, motivation to be quick/accurate) [Psychol Aging 2004;19:452-466; Mem Cognit 2004;32:298-310]. Objective: We investigated whether bottom-up and top-down factors influence younger and older adults' decisions to use retrieval-based or algorithmic strategies in everyday life. Methods: In two studies, participants completed a daily diary for 5 (study 1) or 7 (study 2) days. Participants were asked if and how they completed daily activities within several everyday task domains. They also indicated for how long and how often they completed the specific activity (bottom-up factors), as well as how confident they were in using their memory and how motivated they were to perform the specific activity quickly and accurately (top-down influences). Results: Both studies provided evidence for bottom-up and top-down influences. Additionally, study 2 found that top-down factors (memory confidence and motivation to be quick) were more important for older compared to younger adults. Conclusion: These results indicate that strategy choices influence older adults' cognitive efficiency in everyday as well as laboratory learning.

The Role of Top–Down Focused Spatial Attention in Preattentive Salience Coding and Salience-based Attentional Capture

2016 ◽  
Vol 28 (8) ◽  
pp. 1152-1165 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sabine Bertleff ◽  
Gereon R. Fink ◽  
Ralph Weidner
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Attention ◽  
Attentional Capture ◽  
Target Location ◽  
Search Display ◽  
Attentional Focus ◽  
Control Mechanisms ◽  
Top Down ◽  
Distractor Location ◽  
Bottom Up ◽  
Selective Visual Attention

Selective visual attention requires an efficient coordination between top–down and bottom–up attention control mechanisms. This study investigated the behavioral and neural effects of top–down focused spatial attention on the coding of highly salient distractors and their tendency to capture attention. Combining spatial cueing with an irrelevant distractor paradigm revealed bottom–up based attentional capture only when attention was distributed across the whole search display, including the distractor location. Top–down focusing spatial attention on the target location abolished attentional capture of a salient distractor outside the current attentional focus. Functional data indicated that the missing capture effect was not based on diminished bottom–up salience signals at unattended distractor locations. Irrespectively of whether salient distractors occurred at attended or unattended locations, their presence enhanced BOLD signals at their respective spatial representation in early visual areas as well as in inferior frontal, superior parietal, and medial parietal cortex. Importantly, activity in these regions reflected the presence of a salient distractor rather than attentional capture per se. Moreover, successfully inhibiting attentional capture of a salient distractor at an unattended location further increased neural responses in medial parietal regions known to be involved in controlling spatial attentional shifts. Consequently, data provide evidence that top–down focused spatial attention prevents automatic attentional capture by supporting attentional control processes counteracting a spatial bias toward a salient distractor.

Cognitive Load Affects Speech Motor Performance Differently in Older and Younger Adults

2019 ◽  
Vol 62 (5) ◽  
pp. 1258-1277 ◽  
Author(s):  
Megan K. MacPherson
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Cognitive Load ◽  
Motor Performance ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Incongruent Condition ◽  
Sentence Production ◽  
Movement Duration ◽  
Production Task ◽  
Younger Adults ◽  
Speech Motor

PurposeThe aim of this study was to determine the impact of cognitive load imposed by a speech production task on the speech motor performance of healthy older and younger adults. Response inhibition, selective attention, and working memory were the primary cognitive processes of interest.MethodTwelve healthy older and 12 healthy younger adults produced multiple repetitions of 4 sentences containing an embedded Stroop task in 2 cognitive load conditions: congruent and incongruent. The incongruent condition, which required participants to suppress orthographic information to say the font colors in which color words were written, represented an increase in cognitive load relative to the congruent condition in which word text and font color matched. Kinematic measures of articulatory coordination variability and movement duration as well as a behavioral measure of sentence production accuracy were compared between groups and conditions and across 3 sentence segments (pre-, during-, and post-Stroop).ResultsIncreased cognitive load in the incongruent condition was associated with increased articulatory coordination variability and movement duration, compared to the congruent Stroop condition, for both age groups. Overall, the effect of increased cognitive load was greater for older adults than younger adults and was greatest in the portion of the sentence in which cognitive load was manipulated (during-Stroop), followed by the pre-Stroop segment. Sentence production accuracy was reduced for older adults in the incongruent condition.ConclusionsIncreased cognitive load involving response inhibition, selective attention, and working memory processes within a speech production task disrupted both the stability and timing with which speech was produced by both age groups. Older adults' speech motor performance may have been more affected due to age-related changes in cognitive and motoric functions that result in altered motor cognition.

Video Games and Emotion Regulation

GeroPsych ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 31 (4) ◽  
pp. 205-213 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathryn L. Ossenfort ◽  
Derek M. Isaacowitz
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Emotion Regulation ◽  
Video Games ◽  
Age Differences ◽  
Interactive Media ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Younger Adults ◽  
Media Usage ◽  
The Everyday ◽  
Media Preferences

Abstract. Research on age differences in media usage has shown that older adults are more likely than younger adults to select positive emotional content. Research on emotional aging has examined whether older adults also seek out positivity in the everyday situations they choose, resulting so far in mixed results. We investigated the emotional choices of different age groups using video games as a more interactive type of affect-laden stimuli. Participants made multiple selections from a group of positive and negative games. Results showed that older adults selected the more positive games, but also reported feeling worse after playing them. Results supplement the literature on positivity in situation selection as well as on older adults’ interactive media preferences.

scholarly journals Are the Acute Effects of THC Different in Aging Adults?

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. 590
Author(s):  
Raeghan L. Mueller ◽  
Jarrod M. Ellingson ◽  
L. Cinnamon Bidwell ◽  
Angela D. Bryan ◽  
Kent E. Hutchison
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Young Adults ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Young Group ◽  
Self Administration ◽  
Behavioral Measures ◽  
Younger Adults ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Aging Adults

In recent years of expanding legalization, older adults have reported the largest increase in cannabis use of any age group. While its use has been studied extensively in young adults, little is known about the effects of THC in older adults and whether the risks of cannabis might be different, particularly concerning intoxication and cognition. The current study investigated whether age is associated with the deleterious effects of THC on cognitive performance and other behavioral measures before and after ad libitum self-administration of three different types of cannabis flower (THC dominant, THC + CBD, and CBD dominant). Age groups consisted of young adults (ages 21–25) and older adults (ages 55–70). Controlling for pre-use scores on all measures, the THC dominant chemovar produced a greater deleterious effect in younger adults compared with older adults in tests of learning and processing speed, whereas there were no differences between old and young in the effects of the other chemovars. In addition, the young group reported greater cannabis craving than the older group after using the THC chemovar. Consistent with some reports in the preclinical literature, the findings suggest that older adults may be less sensitive to the effects of THC on cognitive and affective measures.

scholarly journals Housing Transitions and Recovery of Older Adults Following Hurricane Sandy

2018 ◽  
Vol 74 (6) ◽  
pp. 1041-1052 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexis A Merdjanoff ◽  
Rachael Piltch-Loeb ◽  
Sarah Friedman ◽  
David M Abramson
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Family Health ◽  
Hurricane Sandy ◽  
Younger Adults ◽  
Younger Age ◽  
Observational Cohort ◽  
Emergency Housing ◽  
Young Old ◽  
Post Disaster

Abstract Objectives This study explores the effects of social and environmental disruption on emergency housing transitions among older adults following Hurricane Sandy. It is based upon the Sandy Child and Family Health (S-CAFH) Study, an observational cohort of 1,000 randomly sampled New Jersey residents living in the nine counties most affected by Sandy. Methods This analysis examines the post-Sandy housing transitions and recovery of the young-old (55–64), mid-old (65–74), and old-old (75+) compared with younger adults (19–54). We consider length of displacement, number of places stayed after Sandy, the housing host (i.e., family only, friends only, or multi-host), and self-reported recovery. Results Among all age groups, the old-old (75+) reported the highest rates of housing damage and were more likely to stay in one place besides their home, as well as stay with family rather than by themselves after the storm. Despite this disruption, the old-old were most likely to have recovered from Hurricane Sandy. Discussion Findings suggest that the old-old were more resilient to Hurricane Sandy than younger age groups. Understanding the unique post-disaster housing needs of older adults can help identify critical points of intervention for their post-disaster recovery.

Human-Technology Interaction Factors Associated with Electronic Personal Health Records (ePHRs) Use Among Younger and Older Adult Users: A Secondary Data Analysis (Preprint)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yan Luo ◽  
Krystal Dozier ◽  
Carin Ikenberg
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Health Information ◽  
Personal Health Record ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Personal Health ◽  
Younger Adults ◽  
Clinical Notes ◽  
Interaction Factors ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Two Age Groups

BACKGROUND An electronic personal health record (ePHR), also known as a personal health record (PHR), was broadly defined as an electronic application through which individuals can access, manage, and share their health information in a secure and confidential environment. Although ePHRs can benefit individuals as well as caregivers and healthcare providers, the use of ePHRs among individuals continues to remain low. The relationship between age and ePHRs use has been documented in previous studies, which indicated younger age was related to higher ePHRs use, and patients who are younger were more likely to use ePHRs. OBJECTIVE The current study aims to examine the relationship between human-technology interaction factors and ePHRs use among adults, and then compare the different effects of human-technology interaction factors on ePHRs use between younger adults (18-54 years old) and older adults (55 years of age and over). METHODS We analyzed the from the Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS5, Cycle 3) collected from U.S. adults aged 18 years old and over in 2019. Descriptive analysis was conducted for all variables and each item of ePHRs use. Bivariate tests (Pearson test for categorical variable and F-test for continuous variables) were conducted over four age groups. Lastly, adjusting for socio-demographics and healthcare resources, a weighted multiple linear regression was conducted to examine the relationship between human-technology interaction factors and ePHRs use. RESULTS The final sample size was 1,363 and divided into two age groups: 18-54 years old and 55 years of age and older. The average level of ePHRs use was low (Mean=2.76, range=0-8). There is no significant difference on average ePHRs use between two age groups. Including clinical notes was positively related to ePHRs use in both groups: 18-54 years old (beta=0.28, P<0.01), 55 years old and above (beta=0.15, P<0.01). While accessing ePHRs using a smartphone app was only associated with ePHRs use among younger adults (beta=0.29, P<0.001), ease to understand health information in ePHRs was positively linked to ePHRs use only among older adults (beta=0.13, P<0.01). CONCLUSIONS This study found that including clinical notes was positively related to ePHRs use in both age groups, which suggested that including clinical notes as a part of ePHRs might improve the effective use of ePHRs among patients. Moreover, accessing ePHRs using a smartphone app was associated with higher ePHRs use among younger adults while ease of understanding health information in ePHRs was linked to higher ePHRs use among older adults. The design of ePHRs should provide the option of being accessible through mobile devices to promote greater ePHRs use among young people. For older adults, providers could add additional notes to explain health information recorded in the ePHRs.

Age Differences in the Malleability of Attitudes toward Automated Shared Mobility

2021 ◽  
Vol 65 (1) ◽  
pp. 128-128
Author(s):  
Kathryn Baringer ◽  
Dustin J. Souders ◽  
Jeremy Lopez
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Older Adult ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Educational Video ◽  
Middle Aged ◽  
Automated Vehicles ◽  
Younger Adults ◽  
Difference Scores ◽  
Video Condition ◽  
Middle Aged Adults

Introduction: The use of shared automated vehicles (SAVs) should lead to several societal and individual benefits, including reduced greenhouse gas emissions, reduced traffic, and improved mobility for persons who cannot safely drive themselves. We define SAVs as on-demand, fully automated vehicles in which passengers are paired with other riders traveling along a similar route. Previous research has shown that younger adults are more likely to report using conventional ridesharing services and are more accepting of new technologies including automated vehicles (AVs). However, older adults, particularly those who may be close to retiring from driving, stand to greatly benefit from SAV services. In order for SAVs to deliver on their aforementioned benefits, they must be viewed favorably and utilized. We sought to investigate how short educational and/or experiential videos might impact younger, middle-aged, and older adult respondents’ anticipated acceptance and attitudes toward SAVs. Knowing what types of introductory experiences improve different age groups’ perceptions of SAVs will be beneficial for tailoring campaigns aiming to promote SAV usage. Methods: We deployed an online survey using the platform Prolific for middle-aged and older respondents, and our departmental participant pool for younger adults, collecting 585 total responses that resulted in 448 valid responses. Respondents answered questions regarding their demographic attributes, their ridesharing history, preconceptions of technology, as well as their anticipated acceptance attitudes towards SAVs as measured by the dimensions of the Automated Vehicle User Perception Survey (AVUPS). After this, respondents were randomly assigned to an intervention condition where they either watched 1) an educational video about how SAVs work and their potential benefits, 2) an experiential video showing a AV navigating traffic, 3) both the experiential and educational videos, or 4) a control video explaining how ridesharing works. Anticipated acceptance attitudes towards SAVs were measured again after this intervention and difference scores calculated to investigate the effect of the intervention conditions. Prolific respondents were paid at a rate of $9.50/hour and younger adults received course credit. Results: Controlling for preconceptions of technology and ridesharing experience, a MANOVA was run on the difference scores of the dimensions of the AVUPS (intention to use, trust/reliability, perceived usefulness (PU), perceived ease of use (PEOU), safety, control/driving-efficacy, cost, authority, media, and social influence). Both older and middle-aged adults expressed significantly greater increases in PEOU and PU of SAVs than younger adults. We also observed an interaction between age and condition for both PU and PEOU. For PU, older adults’ difference scores were found to be significantly greater than younger adults’ for the control video condition. With PEOU, older adults’ difference scores were significantly greater than both younger adults’ for the control video condition, and middle-aged adults had greater difference scores for the educational-only video condition than younger or older adults. Discussion: The increases in PU observed for older adults in the control condition suggests that educating them on how to use currently available ridesharing services might transfer to and/or highlight the benefits that automated ridesharing might provide. The PEOU interactions also suggest that middle-aged adults might respond more positively than younger or older adults to an educational introduction to SAVs. Conclusion: The positive findings pertaining to PU and PEOU show that exposure to information related to SAVs has a positive impact on these attitudes. PU’s and PEOU’s positive relationship to behavioral intentions (BI) in the Technology Acceptance Model, coupled with the findings from this study, bode well for higher fidelity interventions seeking to inform and/or give individuals experience with SAVs. Providing information on how currently available ridesharing services work helped our older adult respondents recognize the potential usefulness of SAVs. Knowing that different age groups may respond better to educational versus experiential interventions, for example middle-aged adults in this study responding more positively to the educational video condition than younger or older adults, may be useful for targeted promotional campaigns.

scholarly journals EXPLORING AGE, GENDER, AND RELATIONSHIP CLOSENESS DIFFERENCES IN RESPONSES TO IGNORED DISRESPECT

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S305-S305
Author(s):  
Jenessa C Steele ◽  
Amanda Chappell ◽  
Rachel Scott
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Young Adults ◽  
Age Differences ◽  
Negative Emotions ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Emotional Responses ◽  
Younger Adults ◽  
Relationship Closeness ◽  
Close Condition

Abstract Emotional responses to disrespect tend to be negative (Hawkins, 2015). Little is known about how responses to disrespect vary across age groups and relationship closeness. It is unknown whether older adults have more emotional protection against disrespectful experiences, or are more deeply affected due to relationship closeness. Overall, we might expect that older adults react less negatively to disrespect compared to young adults, as they are more-skilled emotion regulators (Carstensen, 1991; English & Carstensen, 2014). We aimed to explore if, and under which circumstances, older adults are more or less sensitive to disrespect compared to younger adults. Three hundred participants responded to six scenarios illustrating ignored disrespect. Participants were randomly assigned to close or distant relationship disrespect scenarios. Relationship closeness was first determined by requesting participants identify a person in each layer of Kahn and Antonucci’s (1980) Social Convoy Model. Identified names were then automatically inserted into the six scenarios. Emotional responses and sensitivity to each scenario were recorded. Participants in the close condition reported more sensitivity to disrespect and negative emotions than participants in the distant condition. Females reported more sensitivity to disrespect and negative emotions than males. We did not find overwhelming support for age differences in responses to disrespect. A single scenario indicated younger participants more sensitive to disrespect than older participants. Findings suggest it is more hurtful to be disrespected by someone close to you and females may be more sensitive to disrespect than males. More research investigating the role of age in disrespect is needed.

Differences in anxiety and depression symptoms: comparison between older and younger clinical samples

2015 ◽  
Vol 27 (9) ◽  
pp. 1523-1532 ◽  
Author(s):  
Viviana M. Wuthrich ◽  
Carly J. Johnco ◽  
Julie L. Wetherell
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Mood Disorders ◽  
Interpersonal Relationships ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Anxiety And Depression ◽  
Clinical Samples ◽  
Depression Symptoms ◽  
Social Situations ◽  
Younger Adults ◽  
Symptom Profiles

ABSTRACTBackground:Anxiety and depression symptoms change over the lifespan and older adults use different terms to describe their mental health, contributing to under identification of anxiety and depression in older adults. To date, research has not examined these differences in younger and older samples with comorbid anxiety and depression.Methods:One hundred and seven treatment-seeking participants (47 older, 60% female, and 60 younger, 50% female) with anxiety and mood disorders completed the Anxiety Disorders Interview Schedule and a symptom checklist to examine differences in symptom severity, symptom profiles and terms used to describe anxiety and mood.Results:The findings indicated several key differences between the presentation and description of anxiety and depression in younger and older adults. Older adults with Social Phobia reported fearing a narrower range of social situations and less distress and interference. Older adults with Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) reported less worry about interpersonal relationships and work/school than younger adults, however, there were no differences between age groups for behavioral symptoms endorsed. Further older adults reported phobia of lifts/small spaces more frequently than younger adults. Depressed older depressed adults also reported more anhedonia compared to younger adults, but no differences in terms of reported sadness were found. Finally, older and younger adults differed in their descriptions of symptoms with older adults describing anxiety as feeling stressed and tense, while younger adults described anxiety as feeling anxious, worried or nervous.Conclusions:Clinicians need to assess symptoms broadly to avoid missing the presence of anxiety and mood disorders especially in older adults.

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