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Aging and the prevalence of 'ironic' action errors under avoidant instruction
Lauren M Potter1, Madeleine A Grealy2
1Department of Psychology, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom.
Plos One
|March 22, 2019
Summary
Older adults made fewer intentional action errors than younger adults, despite slower reaction times on a separate inhibition task. This suggests distinct age-related inhibition processes for different motor control tasks.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Neuroscience
- Human Aging Research
- Motor Control
Background:
- Action errors pose injury risks for older adults.
- Previous research indicates age-related declines in inhibitory control.
- The specific impact of aging on 'ironic' or over-compensatory motor errors is not well understood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To compare 'ironic' and over-compensatory motor errors between older and younger adults.
- To investigate the effect of cognitive load on these error types in different age groups.
- To examine age-related differences in action inhibition compared to perception-action inhibition (Simon task).
Main Methods:
- Sixty-four older and 39 younger adults participated.
- Participants completed an avoidant instruction line-drawing task (with/without cognitive load).
- The Simon task was used to assess perception-action inhibition.
Main Results:
- Older adults exhibited slower inhibition times on the Simon task, consistent with prior findings.
- Surprisingly, older adults made fewer ironic and over-compensatory errors on the avoidant instruction task.
- Performance under cognitive load was similar between age groups on the avoidant instruction task.
Conclusions:
- Age-related decrements in inhibition appear specific to task type, suggesting distinct neural processes.
- The Simon task and the avoidant instruction task likely involve different subtypes of inhibition.
- Older adults' enhanced performance in avoiding prohibited actions may relate to altered distractibility.
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