HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Google Scholar Articles by Ho, G. Articles by Scialfa, C. T. Articles citing this Article PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Ho, G. Articles by Scialfa, C. T.

Age, Skill Transfer, and Conjunction Search

^a University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Geoffrey Ho, Department of Psychology, University of Calgary, 2500 University Drive NW, Calgary, Alberta, Canada T2N 1N4 E-mail: scialfa{at}ucalgary.ca.

Decision Editor: Margie E. Lachman, PhD

Ten younger and ten older adults were provided with 16 sessions of conjunction search under consistent mapping, where target and distractors remain constant in identity. The target and one distractor were reversed after every fourth session. After the first four training sessions, on target-present trials, display size slopes were near zero for both age groups. However, on target-absent trials, older adults continued to show significantly larger display size effects than younger adults. There were no systematic age differences in either the probability of fixating objects that possess the target's features or in the amount of disruption at any reversal. Thus, although older adults exhibited more conservative criteria in visual search, they developed proficient and flexible search skill to the same degree as their younger counterparts. These data have implications for models of visual attention, skill acquisition, and cognitive aging.