Studies have documented the negative effects of mental imagery on perception (also known as the Perky effect) in younger adults, but imagery-interference effects in older adults have never been assessed. Two experiments examined this issue directly. Experiment 1 demonstrated that visual mental images diminish visual acuity in younger adults (mean age = 19.0) but not older adults (mean age = 73.6). Experiment 2 obtained parallel results, showing that visual imagery interfered with performance on a visual detection task in younger (mean age = 18.7) but not older adults (mean age = 66.7). Processes underlying age-related differences in imagery-interference effects are discussed and implications of these results for changes in cognitive performance in older adults are considered.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
McDowdJ. M.CraikF. I. M.Effects of aging and task difficulty on divided attention performance. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 1, 267–280 (1988).
2.
BäckmanL.SmallB. J.WahlinA.Aging and memory: Cognitive and biological perspectives, in BirrenJ. E.SchaieK. W. (Eds.), Handbook of the psychological aging (pp. 349–377). San Diego, CA: Academic Press (2001).
3.
CampbellJ. I. D.CharnessN.Age-related declines in working memory skills: Evidence from a complex calculation task. Developmental Psychology, 26, 879–888 (1990).
4.
SalthouseT. A.BabcockR. L.Decomposing adult age differences in working memory. Developmental Psychology, 27, 763–776 (1991).
5.
CohenG.ConwayM. A.MaylorE. A.Flashbulb memories in older adults. Psychology and Aging, 9, 454–463 (1994).
6.
DunloskyJ.HertzogC.Aging and deficits in associative memory: What is the role of strategy production?. Psychology and Aging, 13, 597–607 (1998).
7.
MitchellD. B.How many memory systems are there? Evidence from aging. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Learning and Memory, 15, 31–49 (1989).
8.
SalthouseT. A.Mechanisms of age-cognition relations in adulthood. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum (1992).
9.
CorsoJ. F.Aging sensory systems and perception. New York: Praeger (1981).
10.
BruyerR.ScailquinJ. C.Effects of aging on the generation of mental images. Experimental Aging Research, 26, 337–351 (2000).
11.
De BeniR.PazzagliaF.GardiniS.The generation and maintenance of visual mental images: Evidence from image type and aging. Brain and Cognition, 63, 271–278 (2007).
12.
DrorI. E.KosslynS. M.Mental imagery and aging. Psychology and Aging, 9, 90–102 (1994).
13.
BergC.HertzogC.HuntE.Age differences in the speed of mental rotation. Developmental Psychology, 18, 95–107 (1982).
14.
BriggsS. D.RazN.MarksW.Age-related deficits in generation and manipulation of mental images: I. The role of sensorimotor speed and working memory. Psychology and Aging, 14, 427–435 (1999).
15.
CraikF. I. M.DirkxE.Age-related differences in three tests of visual imagery. Psychology and Aging, 7, 661–665 (1992).
16.
HertzogC.RypmaB.Age differences in components of mental-rotation task Performance. Bulletin of the Psychonomic Society, 29, 209–212 (1991).
17.
JohnsonS. H.RybashJ. M.A cognitive neuroscience perspective on age-related slowing: Developmental changes in the functional architecture, in CerellaJ.RybashJ.HoyerW.CommonsM. L. (Eds.), Adult information processing: Limits on loss (pp. 143–173). New York: Academic Press (1993).
18.
CerellaJ.PoonL. W.FozardJ. L.Mental rotation and age reconsidered. Journal of Gerontology, 36, 620–624 (1981).
19.
BrownH. D.KosslynS. M.DrorI.Aging and scanning of imagined and perceived visual images. Experimental Aging Research, 24, 181–194 (1998).
20.
KempsE.NewsonR.Patterns and predictors of adult age differences in mental imagery. Aging, Neuropsychology, and Cognition, 12, 99–128 (2005).
21.
PerkyC. W.An experimental study of imagination. American Journal of Psychology, 21, 422–452 (1910).
22.
SegalS. J.Imagery: Current cognitive approaches. New York: Academic Press (1971).
23.
SegalS. J.FusellaV.Influence of imaged pictures and sounds on detection of visual and auditory signals. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 83, 458–464 (1970).
24.
Craver-LemleyC.ArterberryM. E.Visual imagery interference in a detection task. Spatial Vision, 14, 101–119 (2001).
25.
Craver-LemleyC.ArterberryM. E.ReevesA.The effects of imagery on Vernier acuity under conditions of induced depth. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 23, 3–13 (1997).
26.
Craver-LemleyC.ArterberryM. E.ReevesA.Illusory conjunctions: The conjoining of features of real and imagined stimuli. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 25, 1036–1049 (1999).
27.
IshaiA.SagiD.Visual imagery: Effects of short- and long-term memory. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 9, 734–742 (1997).
28.
SegalS. J.FusellaV.Effects of imaging on signal-to-noise ratio with varying signal conditions. British Journal of Psychology, 60, 459–464 (1969).
ReevesA.SegalS.Effects of visual imagery on visual sensitivity and pupil diameter. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 36, 1091–1098 (1973).
32.
BarrettA. M.Craver-LemleyC.Is it what you see, or how you say it? Spatial bias in young and aged subjects. The Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, 14, 562–570 (2008).
33.
RosenthalR.Meta-analytic procedures for social research (Rev. ed.). Newbury Park, CA: Sage (1991).
34.
DrorI. E.Schmitz-WilliamsI. C.SmithW.Older adults use mental representations that reduce cognitive load: Mental rotation utilizes holistic representations and processing. Experimental Aging Research, 31, 409–420 (2005).
35.
RogersW. A.GilbertD. K.Do performance strategies mediate age-related differences in associative learning?Psychology and Aging, 12, 620–633 (1997).
36.
SalthouseT. A.Theoretical perspective on cognitive aging. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum (1991).
37.
ArnstenA. F.CaiJ. X.SteereJ. C.Goldman-RakicP. S.Dopamine D2 receptor mechanisms contribute to age-related cognitive decline: The effects of quinpirole on memory and motor function in monkeys. The Journal of Neuroscience, 15, 3429–3439 (1995).
38.
BraverT. S.BarchD. M.A theory of cognitive control, aging cognition, and neuromodulation. Neuroscience and Behavioral Reviews, 26, 809–817 (2002).
39.
VolkowN. D.GurR. C.WangG-J.FowlerJ. S.MobergP. J.DingY-S.Association between decline in brain dopamine activity with age and cognitive and motor impairment in healthy individuals. American Journal of Psychiatry, 155, 344–349 (1998).
40.
SalatD. H.BucknerR. L.SnyderA. Z.GreveD. N.DesikanR.BusaE.Thinning of the cerebral cortex in aging, 14, 721–730 (2004).
41.
RazN.BriggsS. D.MarksW.AckerJ. D.Age-related deficits in generation and manipulation of mental images: II. The role of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. Psychology and Aging, 14, 436–444 (1999).
