Search, Enumeration, and Aging: Eye Movement Requirements Cause Age-Equivalent Performance in Enumeration but Not in Search Tasks

Response time (RT) and fixation frequency were measured for young and older adults in search and enumeration tasks under high- and low-attentional competition conditions. There was an age-related decrement in search rates for single targets both for RT and fixation frequency, but there was no defici...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Psychology and aging 2005-06, Vol.20 (2), p.226-240
Main Authors: Watson, Derrick G, Maylor, Elizabeth A, Bruce, Lucy A. M
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Adult
Adult. Elderly
Age differences
Aged
Aging
Aging - psychology
Attention
Biological and medical sciences
Cognition
Developmental psychology
Enumeration
Eye Fixation
Eye Movements
Eyes & eyesight
Female
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Human
Humans
Male
Mathematics
Middle Aged
Numerosity Perception
Older people
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychophysiology
Reaction Time
Reaction times
Task performance
Visual Search
Visual searching
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Summary:Response time (RT) and fixation frequency were measured for young and older adults in search and enumeration tasks under high- and low-attentional competition conditions. There was an age-related decrement in search rates for single targets both for RT and fixation frequency, but there was no deficit in enumeration rates either with or without distractors even though serial enumeration rates were much slower than single target search rates. Fixation frequency per item in serial enumeration was much greater than in serial visual search for a single target. Enumerating targets with distractors produced an overall increase in RT and fixation frequency that was greater for older adults. The data are contrary to a generalized slowing account, and an alternative is proposed on the basis of the need to make eye movements in enumeration but not in search tasks.
ISSN:0882-7974
1939-1498
DOI:10.1037/0882-7974.20.2.226