The impact of executive capacity and age on mechanisms underlying multidimensional feature selection

• Published in: Neuropsychologia 2015-04, Vol.70, p.30-42
• Main Authors: Mott, Katherine K., Alperin, Brittany R., Fox, Anne M., Holcomb, Phillip J., Daffner, Kirk R.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Aging; Analysis of Variance; Attention - physiology; Electroencephalography; ERPs; Evoked Potentials, Visual - physiology; Executive control; Executive Function - physiology; Female; Humans; Judgment; Male; Multidimensional feature selection; Photic Stimulation; Psychomotor Performance; Reaction Time - physiology; Selection negativity; Selective attention; Young Adult
• ISSN: 0028-3932; 1873-3514
• DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2015.02.003

This study examined the role of executive capacity (EC) and aging in multidimensional feature selection. ERPs were recorded from healthy young and old adults of either high or average EC based on neuropsychological testing. Participants completed a color selective attention task in which they responded to target letter-forms in a specified color (attend condition) while ignoring letter-forms in a different color (ignore condition). Two selection negativity (SN) components were computed: the SNColor (attend–ignore), indexing early color selection, and the SNLetter (targets–standards), indexing early letter-form selection. High EC subjects exhibited self-terminating feature selection; the processing of one feature type was reduced if information from the other feature type suggested the stimulus did not contain the task-relevant feature. In contrast, average EC subjects exhaustively selected all features of a stimulus. The self-terminating approach was associated with better task accuracy. Higher EC was also linked to stronger early selection of target letter-forms, but did not modulate the seemingly less demanding task of color selection. Mechanisms utilized for multidimensional feature selection appear to be consistent across the lifespan, although there was age-related slowing of processing speed for early selection of letter features. We conclude that EC is a critical determinant of how multidimensional feature processing is carried out. •Multidimensional feature selection assessed using different selection negativity ERPs.•Impact of executive capacity (EC), age, and task difficulty examined.•Average EC subjects used an exhaustive feature selection approach.•High EC subjects exhibited much more efficient feature processing.•The effect of EC not modulated by age; but processing was slower in older adults.