Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 4, 2026

A Cognitive Paradigm to Investigate Interference in Working Memory by Distractions and Interruptions
Published on: July 16, 2015
Inhibition and aging: similarities between younger and older adults as revealed by the processing of unattended
D R Murphy1, J M McDowd, K A Wilcox
1Department of Psychology, University of Toronto at Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. dmurphy@credit.erin.utoronto.ca
Abstract:
The ability to selectively attend to an auditory stimulus appears to decline with age and may result from losses in the ability to inhibit the processing of irrelevant stimuli (i.e., the inhibitory deficit hypothesis; L. Hasher & R. T. Zacks, 1988). It is also possible that declines in the ability to selectively attend are a result of age-related hearing losses. Three experiments examined whether older and younger adults differed in their ability to inhibit the processing of distracting stimuli when the listening situation was adjusted to correct for individual differences in hearing. In all 3 experiments, younger and older adults were equally affected by irrelevant stimuli, unattended stimuli, or both. The implications for auditory attention research and for possible differences between auditory and visual processing are discussed.
Related Concept Videos
Feedback Inhibition
Stereotypes, Prejudice, and Discrimination
Auditory Perception
Cognitive Development During Adulthood
Information Processing Approach
Aging
Cellular Clock Theory
The cellular clock theory posits that the human lifespan is closely tied to the finite capacity of cells to divide, a phenomenon governed by telomeres, which are protective caps at the ends of...

