Are backward words special for older adults?

Area of Science:

• Cognitive psychology
• Neuroscience of aging

Background:

• Cognitive control and executive functions decline with age.
• The Stroop task is a standard measure of selective attention and cognitive control.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate age-related differences in Stroop interference.
• To examine the impact of word orientation on Stroop interference in older and younger adults.

Main Methods:

• Two experiments were conducted comparing older and young adults.
• Participants completed the Stroop task with incongruent color words in standard, upside-down, and backward-and-upside-down orientations.
• A percentage interference score, corrected for naming speed, was used.

Main Results:

• Older adults showed significantly greater Stroop interference than younger adults.
• This age effect persisted even with unusual print orientations (upside-down; backward and upside-down).
• No significant age effect was found when participants named colors of backward words.

Conclusions:

• Cognitive control, as measured by Stroop interference, is more impacted by aging, particularly under challenging perceptual conditions.
• The findings suggest that older adults have more difficulty inhibiting irrelevant word information.
• Reading speed does not fully explain the observed age-related differences in Stroop interference.