Cognitive Efficiency Modes in Old Age: Performance on Sequential and Coordinative Verbal and Visuospatial Tasks

In an experiment using a large set of verbal and spatial tasks requiring low or high degrees of executive control, 3 distinct age-related effects were found. The smallest effect (no slowing) was tied to lexical tasks with low executive involvement, the largest deficit (age-related slowing factor of...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Psychology and aging 2002-12, Vol.17 (4), p.558-570
Main Authors: Verhaeghen, Paul, Cerella, John, Semenec, Silvie C, Leo, Melissa A, Bopp, Kara L, Steitz, David W
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Adult. Elderly
Age Differences
Aged
Aging
Aging - psychology
Biological and medical sciences
Cognition
Cognition & reasoning
Cognitive Ability
Cognitive Processing Speed
Developmental psychology
Elderly people
Executive function
Female
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Human
Humans
Male
Motor Skills
Older Adulthood
Older people
Psychology
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychophysiology
Task Performance and Analysis
Verbal Ability
Verbal Behavior
Verbal communication skills
Visual Perception
Visual-Spatial ability
Visuospatial Ability
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Summary:In an experiment using a large set of verbal and spatial tasks requiring low or high degrees of executive control, 3 distinct age-related effects were found. The smallest effect (no slowing) was tied to lexical tasks with low executive involvement, the largest deficit (age-related slowing factor of 2.2) was tied to visuospatial tasks with high executive involvement, an intermediate level of deficit (slowing factor of 1.7) was found for visuospatial tasks with low executive load and verbal tasks with high executive load. These age-related dissociations were incompatible with any "common cause" formulation. The mechanism responsible for the dissociation between verbal and visual tasks, and between low and high executive load remains to be determined. The latter may reflect capacity limits.
ISSN:0882-7974
1939-1498
DOI:10.1037/0882-7974.17.4.558