Interference, aging, and visuospatial working memory: the role of similarity

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Psychology
• Neuroscience
• Gerontology

Background:

• Older adults experience declining performance on working memory (WM) span tasks due to proactive interference (PI).
• Distinctive items in verbal tasks and reversed trial presentation order have previously reduced PI and improved performance.
• Visuospatial WM tasks in older adults may also benefit from PI reduction strategies.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate if visually distinct trials improve older adults' visuospatial WM performance.
• To determine if combining distinct trials with reversed presentation order offers additive benefits in reducing PI.

Main Methods:

• Forty-eight healthy older adults (60-77 years) completed a computerized Corsi block test.
• Three task versions were used: visually similar ascending trials, visually distinct ascending trials, and visually distinct descending trials.
• Visuospatial working memory span was measured.

Main Results:

• Visuospatial WM span scores were significantly higher with visually distinct trials compared to visually similar trials in the ascending format.
• Combining visually distinct trials with a descending presentation order did not yield greater benefits than the descending order alone.
• Visuospatial WM performance in older adults is sensitive to trial distinctiveness.

Conclusions:

• Visually distinct trials can enhance visuospatial working memory span scores in older adults.
• Reducing within-test interference is crucial for accurate measurement of visuospatial WM in older adults.
• These findings may also apply to neuropsychological patient populations.