Aging and the rate of visual information processing

Abstract

Multiple methods exist for measuring how age influences the rate of visual information processing. The most advanced methods model the processing dynamics in a task in order to estimate processing rates independently of other factors that might be influenced by age, such as overall performance level and the time at which processing onsets. However, such modeling techniques have produced mixed evidence for age effects. Using a time-accuracy function (TAF) analysis, Kliegl, Mayr, and Krampe (1994) showed clear evidence for age effects on processing rate. In contrast, using the diffusion model to examine the dynamics of decision processes, Ratcliff and colleagues (e.g., Ratcliff, Thapar, & McKoon, 2006) found no evidence for age effects on processing rate across a range of tasks. Examination of these studies suggests that the number of display stimuli might account for the different findings. In three experiments we measured the precision of younger and older adults' representations of target stimuli after different amounts of stimulus exposure. A TAF analysis found little evidence for age differences in processing rate when a single stimulus was presented (Experiment 1). However, adding three nontargets to the display resulted in age-related slowing of processing (Experiment 2). Similar slowing was observed when simply presenting two stimuli and using a post-cue to indicate the target (Experiment 3). Although there was some interference from distracting objects and from previous responses, these age-related effects on processing rate seem to reflect an age-related difficulty in processing multiple objects, particularly when encoding them into visual working memory.

Multimodal coding and strategic approach in young and older adults’ visual working memory performance

“…It is important to highlight that processing speed is related to capacity for both visual and verbal active rehearsal. Processing speed has previously been shown to be particularly important in visuo-spatial tasks (Brown et al 2012, Bopp & Verhaeghen, 2007Guest et al 2015;Jenkins et al 2000), and an ability that is important in cognitive aging more generally (Salthouse, 1991(Salthouse, , 1996; see also Bucur et al, 2008;Deary et al, 2006;Deary, Johnson, & Starr, 2010). Indeed, Brown et al (2012) showed that the greatest predictor of older adults' performance of the most abstract version of the present visual working memory task was processing speed.…”

“…Noack et al therefore concluded that age mainly affects the encoding stage of their task, and that both reduced storage capacity and less distinct neural activation can account for age-related limitations in visual working memory. Using time-accuracy function analysis (Kliegl, Mayr, & Krampe, 1994), Guest, Howard, Brown, and Gleeson (2015) observed age-related slowing of visual processing, specifically with multiple object arrays. This slowing was observed when the task involved processing and filtering out distractors at encoding, and also when required to encode more than one object into visual working memory for possible recall.…”

“…The young adults had significantly more years of education than the older adults, t(27.8) = 2.36, p = .026, however this is a commonly observed cohort effect (e.g. Guest et al, 2015). The older participants volunteered on the basis of being generally healthy and living independently in the community, however, cognitive functioning was specifically screened using the Mini-Mental State Examination (Folstein, Folstein, & McHugh, 1975).…”

Low-Frequency Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation to Right Parietal Cortex Disrupts Perception of Briefly Presented Stimuli

“…This is consistent with a reduction in the benefit of information accrual over time when right parietal function is inhibited. Speed of information accrual has been shown to be sensitive to several factors including the presence or absence of distractors (Kent, Howard & Gilchrist, 2012) and set size (Guest et al, 2015). If visual information about the target stimulus is accrued more slowly, then this would lead to the pattern of performance we see here with little or no difference effects at the very shortest durations with an emerging difference at longer, though still brief (< quarter of a second), durations.…”

Light Video Game Play is Associated with Enhanced Visual Processing of Rapid Serial Visual Presentation Targets

“…The speed of visual information accrual is known to exhibit individual differences (Guest et al, 2015). VGPs show more semantic priming than NVGPs when semantic primes are very brief (20 ms) but not when they are presented for longer (60 ms) (Pohl et al, 2014), suggesting that more visual information is processed by VGPs during these very brief intervals.…”