TY - JOUR
T1 - Age differences in inhibition
T2 - Possible causes and consequences
AU - Earles, Julie L.
AU - Connor, Lisa Tabor
AU - Frieske, David
AU - Park, Denise C.
AU - Smith, Anderson D.
AU - Zwahr, Melissa
N1 - Funding Information:
* This research was supported by a grant from the National Institute on Aging (R01-AGO6265) to Denise Park and Anderson Smith. Julie Earles and Lisa Connor were supported by National Institutes of Health Institutional Research Training Grant T32 AGOOT75 from the National Institute on Aging to the School of Psychology, Georgia Institute of Technology. The authors gratefully acknowledge substantial contributions to this research from Lynn Hasher, Rose Zacks, Cynthia May, and Michael Kane, who provided helpful assistance on task development and design. We also thank Steven Tipper for advice on task development. Address correspondence to: Julie L. Earles, Psychology Department, Furman University, Greenville, SC 296 13, USA. E-mail: earlesjulie/furman@furman.edu. Accepted for publication: August 9, 1996.
PY - 1997
Y1 - 1997
N2 - The relations among age, inhibition, perceptual speed, susceptibility to interference, and working memory were examined in a sample of 301 adults age 20 to 90. Younger adults were found to have more efficient inhibitory mechanisms than were older adults. Significant inhibition, however, was found in all age groups, including the older age group. Older adults were also found to be more susceptible to interference from irrelevant information. There was a small negative relation between interference and inhibition, suggesting that participants with the most efficient inhibitory functioning may he the least susceptible to interference. Perceptual speed, an index of processing efficiency, was found to mediate nearly all of the age-related variance in inhibition and interference. Interference, but not inhibition, was found to mediate some of the age related variance in working memory.
AB - The relations among age, inhibition, perceptual speed, susceptibility to interference, and working memory were examined in a sample of 301 adults age 20 to 90. Younger adults were found to have more efficient inhibitory mechanisms than were older adults. Significant inhibition, however, was found in all age groups, including the older age group. Older adults were also found to be more susceptible to interference from irrelevant information. There was a small negative relation between interference and inhibition, suggesting that participants with the most efficient inhibitory functioning may he the least susceptible to interference. Perceptual speed, an index of processing efficiency, was found to mediate nearly all of the age-related variance in inhibition and interference. Interference, but not inhibition, was found to mediate some of the age related variance in working memory.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0031007443&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/13825589708256635
DO - 10.1080/13825589708256635
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:0031007443
SN - 1382-5585
VL - 4
SP - 45
EP - 57
JO - Aging, Neuropsychology, and Cognition
JF - Aging, Neuropsychology, and Cognition
IS - 1
ER -