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Age Differences in Implicit Interference

¹ Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Canada.
² The Rotman Research Institute of Baycrest Centre, Toronto, Canada.

Address correspondence to Simay Ikier, who is now at Yeditepe University, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Department of Psychology, 34755 Kayisdagi-Istanbul, Turkey. E-mail: ikier{at}yeditepe.edu.tr

We assessed age differences in interference effects in priming by using fragment completion. In Experiment 1, noninterfering filler words preceded critical targets at study, and priming was age invariant. In Experiment 2, the same target items had interfering competitors at the beginning of the list, such that both the target and the competitor were legitimate solutions to a fragment. Having two responses to a cue was disruptive for older adults, but not for younger adults. Younger and older adults differ in their susceptibility to interference in implicit tasks, and interference may play a role in influencing the magnitude of age differences in priming.