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Effects of Similarity and Duration on Age Differences in Visual Search*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 November 2010

Charles T. Scialfa  and
Lisa L. Harpur
Charles T. Scialfa
Affiliation:
University of Calgary
Lisa L. Harpur
Affiliation:
University of Calgary
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Abstract

Young and old observers performed a feature search task in which a single target was embedded in five distractors. Target-distractor similarity was varied quantitatively (along the feature dimension of orientation) and display duration ranged from approximately 50–400 ms. Identification accuracy was worse on target-absent trials, particularly when distractor similarity was high and display duration brief. An age X duration interaction on accuracy was found to reflect generalized age deficits in sensitivity and duration-dependent age differences in bias. Results suggest that an age deficit in the rate of information extraction produces in the elderly a greater dependence on partial information gained from distractors. Additionally, the additive effects of age and similarity have implications for visual search tasks where display size is varied.

Résumé

Des observateurs jeunes et âgés ont effectué une tâche de recherche visuelle où une cible unique était placée parmi cinq distracteurs. La similarité cible-distracteur était variée quantitativement (avec la dimension de l'orientation) et la durée de l'exposition variait d'approximativement 50 à 400 millisecondes. L'identification exacte était plus mauvaise lors des essais sans cible, particulièrement quand la similarité des agents distracteurs était importante et la durée d'exposition brève. Une interaction de l'âge par la durée sur l'exactitude a reflété une baisse générale de la sensibilité avec l'âge, ainsi que des différences de la durée/dépendance selon l'âge dans les critères. Les résultats suggèrent qu'il y a une baisse avec l'âge de la quantité d'informations saisies, ce qui produit chez les personnes âgées une plus grande dépendance sur les informations partielles apportées par les distracteurs. De plus, les effets additionnels de l'âge et de la similarité ont des implications en ce qui concerne les tâches de recherche visuelle lorsque le nombre de distracteurs est varié.

Keywords

AgeVisualSearch.Âgevisionrecherche.
Type
Articles
Information
Canadian Journal on Aging / La Revue canadienne du vieillissement , Volume 13 , Issue 1 , Printemps/Spring 1994 , pp. 51 - 65
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Association on Gerontology 1994

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