Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jan 28, 2026
Measuring Attentional Biases for Threat in Children and Adults
Published on: October 19, 2014
Resolving Age-Related Differences in Working Memory: Equating Perception and Attention Makes Older Adults Remember as
Paul Verhaeghen1, Shriradha Geigerman1, Haoxiang Yang2
1a School of Psychology , Georgia Institute of Technology , Atlanta, GA.
Objectives:
Older adults show clear deficits in working memory functioning. Here, we investigate the often-reported decline in focus switching, that is, the ability to shift items from the focus of attention into working memory, and back. Specifically, we examined whether equating subjects on early processing (perception and attention) might ameliorate the deficit.
Method:
We examined 1-Back and 2-Back performance in younger and older adults, with line segments of different orientation as the stimuli. Stimuli were calibrated depending on each individual's 75% threshold for 1-Back performance. Subjects made match/mismatch judgments.
Results:
After the calibration on 1-Back performance, no age-related differences were found on either accuracy or sensitivity in the 2-Back task. Additionally, when investigating focus-switch trials versus non-focus-switch trials in a random-order 2-Back task, older adults were more efficient at switching the focus of attention than younger adults.
Discussion:
These results provide evidence for the view that age-related limitations in focus switching in working memory are caused (at least in part) by changes in early processing (perception and attention), suggesting that (at least some of the) age-related differences in working memory functioning may be due to shifts in trade-off between early processing and memory-related processing.
Related Concept Videos
01:24Difference Equation Solution using z-Transform
The z-transform facilitates handling delayed signals by shifting the signal in the z-domain, which corresponds to delaying the signal in the time domain, and advancing signals by similarly shifting in the...
01:33Adult Stem Cells
02:59The Nernst Equation
The interconnection between standard cell potentials and various thermodynamic parameters such as the standard free energy change ΔG° and equilibrium constant K has been previously explored. For example, a redox reaction involving zinc(II) and tin(II) ions at 1 M concentration with Eºcell = +0.291 V and ΔG° = −56.2 kJ is spontaneous.
01:21Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation I: Adult
02:55Thermochemical Equations
03:10Chemical Equations