Aging and performance on an everyday-based visual search task

Potter, Lauren M.; Grealy, Madeleine; Elliott, Mark A.; Andrés, Pilar

doi:10.1016/j.actpsy.2012.05.001

Cited by 25 publications

(35 citation statements)

References 42 publications

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“…For example, the TBI participants may have experienced difficulty detecting or selecting the absence of a target, or they may have set a higher criterion than controls for saying that the target was not there. Similar difficulties with target-absent responses have also been noted in the aging population (Hommell, Li, & Li, 2004; Potter et al, 2012), and the underlying nature of this finding requires further investigation. This finding, combined with the consistent finding of a slower visual search process in the attentive search condition that did not improve with time in contrast to overall RT, suggests that the TBI participants were experiencing difficulties with specific aspects of the visual search process rather than experiencing a general reduction in processing speed.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 62%

“…Of interest, while the feature extraction process involved in pre-attentive search appeared intact, the TBI group exhibited slower RTs for target absent compared to target present responses found compared to the control group. This suggests that the TBI participants may be experiencing difficulties with other processes involved, such as detecting or selecting the absence of a target (Potter, 2012). In addition, the slower overall RTs of the TBI participants in both the pre-attentive and attentive search conditions indicates that processes involved in the stimulus identification and/or response selection aspects of the search tasks are slowed relative to those of controls in the post-acute phase of recovery.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Recovery of visual search following moderate to severe traumatic brain injury

Schmitter‐Edgecombe

Robertson

2015

Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology

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Introduction Deficits in attentional abilities can significantly impact rehabilitation and recovery from traumatic brain injury (TBI). This study investigated the nature and recovery of pre-attentive (parallel) and attentive (serial) visual search abilities after TBI. Methods Participants were 40 individuals with moderate to severe TBI who were tested following emergence from post-traumatic amnesia and approximately 8-months post-injury, as well as 40 age and education matched controls. Pre-attentive (automatic) and attentive (controlled) visual search situations were created by manipulating the saliency of the target item amongst distractor items in visual displays. The relationship between pre-attentive and attentive visual search rates and follow-up community integration were also explored. Results The results revealed intact parallel (automatic) processing skills in the TBI group both post-acutely and at follow-up. In contrast, when attentional demands on visual search were increased by reducing the saliency of the target, the TBI group demonstrated poorer performances compared to the control group both post-acutely and 8-months post-injury. Neither pre-attentive nor attentive visual search slope values correlated with follow-up community integration. Conclusions These results suggest that utilizing intact pre-attentive visual search skills during rehabilitation may help to reduce high mental workload situations, thereby improving the rehabilitation process. For example, making commonly used objects more salient in the environment should increase reliance or more automatic visual search processes and reduce visual search time for individuals with TBI.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 62%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Recovery of visual search following moderate to severe traumatic brain injury

Schmitter‐Edgecombe

Robertson

2015

Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology

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“…It appears that participants with TBI either experienced a problem with detecting the absence of a target or used a higher standard than controls for saying the target was not there [27]. Research on the aging population has also found similar difficulties with target-absent responses [51,52]; however, the underlying mechanism needs further investigation. This finding along with the finding that divided, but not focused, attention is impacted following TBI, adds evidence that there are specific aspects of the visual search process that are more impacted following TBI.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Focused and divided attention abilities in the acute phase of recovery from moderate to severe traumatic brain injury

Robertson

Schmitter‐Edgecombe

2017

Brain Injury

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Primary Objective: Impairments in attention following traumatic brain injury (TBI) can significantly impact recovery and rehabilitation effectiveness. This study investigated the multi-faceted construct of selective attention following TBI, highlighting the differences on visual nonsearch (focused attention) and search (divided attention) tasks. Methods and Procedures: Participants were 30 individuals with moderate to severe TBI who were tested acutely (i.e. following emergence from PTA) and 30 age and education matched controls. Participants were presented with visual displays that contained either two or eight items. In the focused attention, nonsearch condition, the location of the target (if present) was cued with a peripheral arrow prior to presentation of the visual displays. In the divided attention, search condition, no spatial cue was provided prior to presentation of the visual displays. Main Outcomes and Results: The results revealed intact focused, nonsearch, attention abilities in the acute phase of TBI recovery. In contrast, when no spatial cue was provided (divided attention condition), participants with TBI demonstrated slower visual search compared to the control group. Conclusions: The results of this study suggest that capitalizing on intact focused attention abilities by allocating attention during cognitively demanding tasks may help to reduce mental workload and improve rehabilitation effectiveness.

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“…In this and other conjunction search tasks, response time scales with the number of distractors and it is generally thought to be a serial process. In all studies of childhood development, both conjunctive and feature search performance improves (shorter reaction times) with age into early adulthood (Lobaugh, Cole, & Rovet, 1998; Merrill & Conners, 2013; Ruskin & Kaye, 1990; Thompson & Massaro, 1989), while studies with older subjects show declines with age (Amenedo, Lorenzo-Lopez, & Pazo-Alvarez, 2012; Bennett, Motes, Rao, & Rypma, 2012; Burton-Danner, Owsley, & Jackson, 2001; Cosman, Lees, Lee, Rizzo, & Vecera, 2012; Foster, Behrmann, & Stuss, 1995; Muller-Oehring, Schulte, Rohlfing, Pfefferbaum, & Sullivan, 2013; Potter, Grealy, Elliott, & Andres, 2012). Taken together, these studies suggest that performance on search tasks exhibits a U-shaped function over the lifespan.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Micro and regular saccades across the lifespan during a visual search of “Where’s Waldo” puzzles

et al. 2016

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Despite the fact that different aspects of visual-motor control mature at different rates and aging is associated with declines in both sensory and motor function, little is known about the relationship between microsaccades and either development or aging. Using a sample of 343 individuals ranging in age from 4 to 66 and a task that has been shown to elicit a high frequency of microsaccades (solving Where’s Waldo puzzles), we explored microsaccade frequency and kinematics (main sequence curves) as a function of age. Taking advantage of the large size of our dataset (1,83,893 saccades), we also address (a) the saccade amplitude limit at which video eye trackers are able to accurately measure microsaccades and (b) the degree and consistency of saccade kinematics at varying amplitudes and directions. Using a modification of the Engbert–Mergenthaler saccade detector, we found that even the smallest amplitude movements (0.25–0.5°) demonstrate basic saccade kinematics. With regard to development and aging, both microsaccade and regular saccade frequency exhibited a very small increase across the life span. Visual search ability, as per many other aspects of visual performance, exhibited a U-shaped function over the lifespan. Finally, both large horizontal and moderate vertical directional biases were detected for all saccade sizes.

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Aging and performance on an everyday-based visual search task

Cited by 25 publications

References 42 publications

Recovery of visual search following moderate to severe traumatic brain injury

Recovery of visual search following moderate to severe traumatic brain injury

Focused and divided attention abilities in the acute phase of recovery from moderate to severe traumatic brain injury

Micro and regular saccades across the lifespan during a visual search of “Where’s Waldo” puzzles

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