Jiang Yuhong V, Koutstaal Wilma, Twedell Emily L
Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota.
Psychol Aging. 2016 Dec;31(8):970-980. doi: 10.1037/pag0000139. Epub 2016 Nov 10.
Age-related decline is pervasive in tasks that require explicit learning and memory, but such reduced function is not universally observed in tasks involving incidental learning. It is unknown if habitual attention, involving incidental probabilistic learning, is preserved in older adults. Previous research on habitual attention investigated contextual cuing in young and older adults, yet contextual cuing relies not only on spatial attention but also on context processing. Here we isolated habitual attention from context processing in young and older adults. Using a challenging visual search task in which the probability of finding targets was greater in 1 of 4 visual quadrants in all contexts, we examined the acquisition, persistence, and spatial-reference frame of habitual attention. Although older adults showed slower visual search times and steeper search slopes (more time per additional item in the search display), like young adults they rapidly acquired a strong, persistent search habit toward the high-probability quadrant. In addition, habitual attention was strongly viewer-centered in both young and older adults. The demonstration of preserved viewer-centered habitual attention in older adults suggests that it may be used to counter declines in controlled attention. This, in turn, suggests the importance, for older adults, of maintaining habit-related spatial arrangements. (PsycINFO Database Record
与年龄相关的衰退在需要显性学习和记忆的任务中普遍存在，但在涉及偶然学习的任务中，这种功能减退并非普遍可见。尚不清楚涉及偶然概率学习的习惯性注意力在老年人中是否得以保留。先前关于习惯性注意力的研究调查了年轻人和老年人中的情境线索效应，然而情境线索效应不仅依赖于空间注意力，还依赖于情境处理。在此，我们在年轻人和老年人中分离了习惯性注意力与情境处理。使用一项具有挑战性的视觉搜索任务，在所有情境下，在四个视觉象限中的一个象限中找到目标的概率更高，我们研究了习惯性注意力的习得、持续性和空间参照框架。尽管老年人的视觉搜索时间较慢且搜索斜率较陡（搜索显示中每增加一个项目需要更多时间），但与年轻人一样，他们迅速形成了对高概率象限的强烈、持久的搜索习惯。此外，习惯性注意力在年轻人和老年人中都以观察者为中心。在老年人中保留以观察者为中心的习惯性注意力的证明表明，它可能被用来对抗控制性注意力的下降。反过来，这表明对于老年人来说，维持与习惯相关的空间安排很重要。（《心理学文摘数据库记录》
