The present study investigated “inhibition of return” which refers to increased response latency when the target in a location discrimination task appears in the same location on consecutive trials. Research to date has suggested that this effect is little changed across age. However, this study, which compared 12 older adults in good health (M = 73.0, SD = 5.3) with younger adults using the target-target paradigm to examine inhibition of return, suggests there is a strong and continuous effect in older adults in comparison to younger adults. Results indicate the possibility that the inhibitory function may become stronger at an older age.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
CastelA. D.ChasteenA. L.ScialfaC. T.PrattJ. (2003) Adult age differences in the time course of inhibition of return. Journals of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences, 53B, P256–P259.
2.
FaustM. E.BalotaD. A. (1997) Inhibition of return and visuospatial attention in healthy older adults and individuals with dementia of Alzheimer type. Neuropsychology, 11, 13–29.
3.
HartleyA. A.KieleyJ. H. (1995) Adult age differences in the inhibition of return of visual attention. Psychology and Aging, 10, 670–683.
4.
HasherL.ZacksR. (1988) Working memory, comprehension, and aging: a review and a new review. In BrownG. (Ed.), The psychology of learning and motivation. San Diego, CA: Academic Press. Pp. 193–325.
5.
IvanoffJ.KleinR. M.LupianezJ. (2002) Inhibition of return interacts with the Simon effect: an omnibus analysis and its implications. Perception & Psychophysics, 64, 318–327.
6.
LangleyL. K.FuentesL. J.HochhalterA. K.BrandtJ.OvermierJ. B. (2001) Inhibition of return in aging and Alzheimer's disease: performance as a function of task demands and stimulus timing. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology, 23, 431–446.
7.
McCraeC. S.AbramsR. A. (2001) Age-related differences in object- and location-based inhibition of return of attention. Psychology and Aging, 16, 437–449.
8.
PosnerM. I.CohenY. (1984) Components of visual orienting. In BoumanH.BouwhuisD. (Eds.), Attention and performance: X. London: Erlbaum. Pp. 531–556.
9.
TanakaY.ShimojoS. (1996) Location vs feature: reaction time reveals dissociation between two visual functions. Vision Research, 36, 2125–2143.
10.
TaylorT. L.IvanoffJ. (2003) The interplay of stop signal inhibition and inhibition of return. The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 56A, 1349–1371.
11.
TsuchidaN. (2003) Inhibition of return using location discrimination. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 96, 355–369.
