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Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 14, 2026

A Cognitive Paradigm to Investigate Interference in Working Memory by Distractions and Interruptions

A Cognitive Paradigm to Investigate Interference in Working Memory by Distractions and Interruptions

Published on: July 16, 2015

Distraction can reduce age-related forgetting.

Renée K Biss¹, K W Joan Ngo, Lynn Hasher

¹Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. renee.biss@utoronto.ca

Psychological Science

|February 22, 2013

Summary

Older adults often forget more, but distraction can help their memory. When distracting words were presented, older adults remembered them better than non-distracting words, suggesting distractibility can boost memory.

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Area of Science:

Cognitive Psychology
Neuroscience of Aging
Human Memory

Background:

Age-related memory decline is a significant concern.
Older adults often exhibit greater distractibility compared to younger adults.
The impact of distractibility on age-related forgetting is not fully understood.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate if older adults' distractibility can mitigate age-related memory forgetting.
To explore the potential of leveraging distractibility as a memory enhancement strategy for older adults.

Main Methods:

Three experiments involved younger and older adults studying word lists.
A 1-back task with studied words as distractors was administered during a 15-min recall delay.
Recall performance for repeated (distractor) and unrepeated words was compared between age groups.

Main Results:

Older adults forgot unrepeated words, but rarely forgot words that served as distractors.
Younger adults forgot words regardless of whether they were distractors.
Distractor exposure appeared to function as a rehearsal for older adults, preserving memory.

Conclusions:

Distractibility in older adults can be harnessed to improve memory retention.
The findings suggest a potential method to counteract age-related memory deficits by utilizing inherent distractibility.
This research offers insights into memory compensation strategies for aging populations.