Abstract
The fact that response times increase as one ages has long been established. Previously, a model of general slowing in the nonlexical domains has done a really good job of explaining the differences between older and younger adults. However, an alternative process-specific model has not been conclusively ruled out. This experiment tested general and process-specific models of slowing in the nonlexical domain using older and younger adults performing a visual search task. The task manipulated the presence of the target, the number of search items, and the structure of the display of the search items. It was found that a process-specific model explained significantly more of the variability than a general model of slowing. It was also discovered that the process most greatly affected was that of deciding to terminate a search when no target was present in the display.
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